Venus Williams is no stranger to fame. After all, the tennis force turned professional way back in 1994 and was joined on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour by her sister Serena Williams just a year later. In the time since, no other female player has come close to matching the sisters' net worths and earning power. TL;DR: It's safe to say we can all learn a thing or two from the tennis pros!
For everything Serena done to amass her enormous wealth, head right on over this way. But for a sneak peek at Venus' money ~journey~, this is the story for you. During her time as a professional athlete, the tennis star has won a whopping seven Grand Slam titles and was even the World Number One on three (!!) different occasions. And all that talent = major $$$. So let's get into all the deets of her deep pockets, starting with the fact that....
Venus has obviously made a *ton* of money playing tennis
Over the course of her career, Venus has won over $42,513,897 in prize money, according to the WTA. We're not even shocked by that jaw-dropping figure TBH, since back in 2019 the tennis star was the 10th highest-paid female athlete in the world and earned a whopping $5.9 million that year—$5 million of which came straight from endorsements alone.
Venus' success is already beyond impressive, but when you consider the fact that, for a majority of the history of tennis, female players were paid significantly less than their male counterparts, it takes her icon status to new heights. Like, back in 2007 (aka the year that Venus earned her fourth Wimbledon tournament win), she actually became the first female tennis player to receive prize money equal to that of the male winner. Nowadays, equal prize money being awarded to men and women is standard practice, but still! Talk about being part of history in the best way possible.
Her endorsement game is top tier
When Venus was 15 years old in 1995, she not only ranked third in the world (!!) in her sport, but she legit scored her first endorsement deal with a brand you maaay or may not have heard of called Reebok. So yeah, while I was out here trying to convince my mom to extend my curfew so I could hang with my friends, Venus was casually crushing life ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. And by "crushing life," I mean inking that iconic $12 million, 5-year deal—the first of its kind for a girl tennis player.
Mood after signing an eight-figure deal before you're legally allowed to vote:
Oh, and just five years later in 2000, Venus signed yet another five-year agreement with the company for a reported $40 million, a massive feat that, at the time, proved to be the richest endorsement deal ever awarded to a woman athlete. I-con-ic!
Reebok isn't the only brand that's partnered with Venus over the years either. During her long-spanning career, she's also worked with American Express, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Stitch Fix, Wilson, Tide, Kraft, Ralph Lauren, and Lacoste, among many others.
^This? Oh, just my mood as a proud fan. ????❤️
She's also an extremely savvy businesswoman
Because she knows that all these ^^^ brands obviously want to use her name and likeness for a reason, it made all the sense in the world when Venus decided to create her own apparel line, EleVen, in 2007. And not to be dramatic, but the line is crushing it, even partnering with professional athletes in other sports...
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And being worn at Wimbledon by Venus herself...
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During a 2016 interview with Inc., the tennis pro opened up about how brand identity makes her company stand out among the slew of other celebrity-backed companies:
"A lot of celebrities put their name on something like a clothing line and suddenly they come out with 500 SKUs and no one understands how that could happen because there was no culture, no message... they just suddenly appeared. We know who we are. We have a very clear point of view. Our focus is on being your best, bringing your best, living a healthy lifestyle, and enjoying the clothes you wear. Who we are is very distinct. That has made us stand out. We don't want to be someone else. We want to be EleVen."
Don't mind me, I'll just be here ordering 50 of these dresses:
Cherry Bomb Tennis Dress
Cherry Bomb Tennis Dress
P.S. Venus is also an investor in Ellevest, an online investment resource specifically aimed at helping women, and she not-so-casually has a stake in the NFL team the Miami Dolphins alongside her sister Serena. So, yeah, this is the general vibe of her money sitch: ????????????.
Venus' real estate portfolio is elite
Yep, in early 2019, Venus spent nearly $10 million on a waterfront "retirement home" with its own beach and private cottage for Serena in Jupiter Island, Florida. The main house has three bedrooms, but the property itself has two guesthouses, tropical gardens, ocean views, a pool, an outdoor kitchen, and a bar. Interestingly enough, it has no tennis court, but even pro athletes need their days off from their sport.
And even way back when, the sisters knew how to make major bank off of their investment properties. Case in point? Venus and Serena used to live together in a Palm Beach Gardens mansion in Florida they bought in 1998 for $525,000. Twenty years later when they went to sell it, they made over $2 million after closing a ~$2.7 million deal.
An aside about King Richard...
Venus probably earned a pretty penny from serving as an executive producer on the 2021 biopic about her father, King Richard, for which the film's lead, Will Smith, earned an Academy Award. One part of the movie specifically highlights a Nike executive's $3 million endorsement offer to Venus the night before her first competitive match in three years. It's a powerful scene that also happens to be totally true.
Just as it's depicted in the movie, Venus wound up turning down the Nike deal because she believed she would be able to land an even more lucrative offer after she proved herself on the court once again...which obviously ended up happening.
Watch King Richard
Okay, so what is Venus Williams' net worth, in total?
Oh, just a whopping $95 million according to Celebrity Net Worth. Honestly, Venus deserves every penny of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go work on my backhand ASAP. ????
Gretty Garcia is the assistant news editor at Cosmopolitan, where she covers all things news, entertainment, and pop culture. Before joining Cosmo, Gretty was a social strategist for Mrs. Dow Jones and a features and special projects editor at Editorialist. She holds an MS from the Columbia Journalism School and studied art history at Harvard College.