Venus Williams Net Worth: Venus Williams has been one of the most highly respected and feared competitors in the world of women’s tennis. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has held the number one spot on the WTA Tour rankings for more than 100 weeks.
Venus Williams career prize money tops $31 million an impressive number that’s not expected to change any time soon given Williams’ continued success in the sport today at age 35.
Venus Williams Early Life
In 1980, Venus Williams was born in Lynwood, California, to Richard and Oracene Williams. She is one of Richard’s five daughters; she, like her younger sister, Serena, has redefined women’s tennis.
Having turned pro in 1994, Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam titles, including five Wimbledon titles. Williams’ father Richard Williams introduced her to tennis on public courts in Los Angeles, near her Compton home. Richard Williams, a Louisiana sharecropper, taught his daughters the game through books and videos.
Early Career
As a 10-year-old, Venus Williams topped 100 miles per hour on the USTA Junior Tour. On October 31, 1994, Williams went pro. She showed herself to be well-prepared for the competition in her very first match, when she beat 50th-seeded Shaun Stafford at the Bank of the West Classic in California.
The moment was significant for the Williams family. Richards particularly is not afraid to let the tennis world know that his girls will be game changers. In a press conference following her victory, Richard’s remark is, that’s one for the ghetto!
Tennis Career
At the 1997 U.S. Open, she became the first unseeded U.S. Open women’s finalist of the Open era and lost to Hingis. In 2000 she became the first woman ever to simultaneously win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and has since starred in TV commercials for Reebok.
When in Sydney for the 2000 Olympic Games, Williams captured the gold in the singles event, and then a second in doubles with Serena. The sisters credit each other for the majority of their accomplishments in the game.
As partners in doubles, the two won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles and played 20-plus matches, including finals of eight Grand Slam tournaments.
Due to injury, she was only able to compete in a handful of tournaments in 2006, but in 2007, she recovered, winning the singles tournament at Wimbledon. One year later, she did it again, defeating Serena to capture a fifth Wimbledon Championship.
A few months later, Venus and Serena Williams won the Beijing Olympics women’s doubles tournament.
In 2011, Williams was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that made her constantly exhausted and sore.
She changed her diet to a vegan one and adjusted her workout regimen, which led her to winning the Wimbledon’s women’s doubles in 2012.
That summer, Williams won a third Olympics Gold medal in Women’s Singles when she won against Czech Republic tennis stars Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka.
That fall, Williams won her first Women’s Tennis Association singles title in over two years.
Throughout 2014, she continued to overpower opponents by getting to the finals of the Rogers Cup and the Coupe Banque Nationale in 2014. In early 2015, she took her 46th career singles title by defeating top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki at the ASB Classic.
That summer, the veteran star advanced to the fourth round of Wimbledon, her strongest showing in the tournament since 2011, before losing to Serena in straight sets on Centre Court. Williams then powered into the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, but again was unable to get past her sister in three tough sets.
Late Career
After defeating and stunning opponents in major competitions like the Australian Open, the Wimbledon Finals, and the U.S. Open, she lost to Serena at the Australian Open and Garbiñe Muguruza at Wimbledon. After finishing just short of the gold at the WTA Finals, she finished the year at a high number in the rankings- No. 5.
Williams couldn’t continue to display that winning form in 2018, as she lost early on in both the Australian and French Opens. That summer, Williams lost in the third round to her sister Serena in the U.S. Open, their earliest head-to-head meeting in a major tournament since the 1998 Australian Open.
Williams continues to compete but, although her ranking has dropped, she was the oldest person at 39 to enter the 2019 Wimbledon field, and lost her only match against 15-year-old American Cori Gauff.
Philanthropist and Entrepreneur
Venus Williams has cultivated a variety of interests off the court, including art classes and an interior design certificate. Wilson’s Leather also has a collection of women’s apparel designed by EleVen.
Besides working on residential projects all over the country, she has launched her own interior design firm.
Venus Williams and Serena became the first African American women to own an NFL team when they joined the Miami Dolphins ownership group in 2009. The book contains interviews with successful individuals such as Richard Branson and Condoleezza Rice about their early athletic experiences.
Venus Williams has also been active in a number of social causes, including promoting gender equality worldwide in partnership with UNESCO.
