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History is being made in the 2024-2025 NFL season. Diverse Representation shares on Instagram that the current season, which kicks off Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, reportedly has the most Black team minority owners in league history. The list is filled with various trailblazers across entertainment, sports, and business, which you can find below. Venus And Serena Williams Kicking things off are trailblazers Venus and Serena Williams, who made history as the first Black women to become minority owners in the NFL. As AFROTECH™ previously told you, they became minority owners in 2009 when the team was reportedly worth $1.02 billion, per Statista. “I am honored to be a partner in the Miami Dolphins franchise and thankful to owner Stephen Ross for allowing Serena and I to be part of Miami Dolphins history,” Venus said at the time, according to People. Serena added, “I am so excited to be part of such a renowned organization. Having spent so much of my childhood in the area, being involved...
A wise investment made by Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian has greatly benefitted their daughters. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the couple has been very intentional about investing in their children’s futures. When their first child, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., was 2 years old, she made headlines as the youngest owner of a professional sports team when she was listed alongside her parents as an investor in Angel City, the National Women’s Soccer League team based in Los Angeles, CA. “As someone who spends hours kicking around a football with my two-year-old daughter, I want her to have a front-row seat to this revolution,” Alexis Ohanian said at the time. “I’m personally investing on behalf of my family because creating more opportunities in women’s sports is important to my wife and me, and we want to be a part of making a better future for our daughter.” In August 2023, the couple welcomed the birth of their second child and daughter, Adira River Ohanian, Today reported....
Michael Jordan’s Cincoro Tequila is scaling globally. The company, born in 2016 through a conversation about a shared passion for tequila, was established alongside four other NBA team owners. The founding partners have since created a portfolio of tequilas made with 100% Blue Weber agave derived from Jalisco, Mexico . Cincoro Tequila is an award-winning company and has attracted investments from Serena Williams, Michael Strahan, and Derek Jeter, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “Cincoro has always been special to me because of the authentic friendships we’ve established around enjoying Cincoro and spending time together, designing it, experiencing it, and tasting it. We are constantly striving for greatness,” Jordan, co-founder of Cincoro Tequila, said in a news release announcing Williams’ ownership stake. “And now that we’re welcoming in some of my closest friends to the business, I’m looking forward to this next era of Cincoro alongside this all-star team.” After expanding its...
When Serena Williams sets her mind on a vision, it transforms into greatness. Before the tennis champion’s retirement in 2022, she launched Serena Ventures in 2014. As previously reported by AFROTECH™, Williams founded her VC firm after learning of the alarmingly low amount of venture capital that goes to women founders, with Black and brown founders receiving even less funds. “I learned that less than 2% of all VC money went to women,” Williams shared via TikTok. “And when I first heard that, I actually thought it was a misquote. I thought, ‘Well, they can’t be real.’ Like, we’re talking about trillions of dollars, and what do you mean less than 2% of that goes to women?…I learned that when I first started investing, I learned that actually was true and that was something that was happening. And so I knew right then and there that one day I wanted to raise a fund or raise money and invest in women.” Under Williams’ mission, the breakdown of Serena Ventures’ investments is 79%...
Serena Williams was playing to win. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, Williams was purely satisfied by the game, and money was an afterthought. So much so that she would often forget to pick up her prize money after tournaments. “When I started tennis, first of all, I’m from Compton, CA, and I remember playing on these courts, and my life was great. I never felt like I needed anything. So for me, money was never a motivation,” Williams explained on Bloomberg Originals’ “The Deal” podcast hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly. “I remember when I first started, back in the day, they used to write out checks after you won your tournament. And I would always forget to get the checks. And so at the end of the year they would always have to say, ‘Serena, we have all these checks for you.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ And at the time, I had an accountant who would be like, ‘Serena, they sent me all these checks that you would forget to get from the tournaments.’” While she reveals she was...
A new powerhouse has joined forces with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s tech-infused golf league, TGL. Shonda Rhimes revealed that she has become a part of the ownership group for the California-based Los Angeles Golf Club (LAGC), TGL’s first team. “I’m beyond excited to announce my involvement as the newest owner of Los Angeles Golf Club, the inaugural team in the @tglgolf league,” Rhimes wrote in an Instagram post. “I can’t wait to bring my passion for golf to this incredible venture.” She continued, “Joining this team is an honor and, as someone who believes in the power of storytelling and community, I’m eager to see how we can elevate the game together. Let’s tee off on this new journey. We are LAGC.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shonda Rhimes (@shondarhimes) The renowned TV producer and creator is now standing alongside fellow Los Angeles Golf Club owners Serena and Venus Williams, Alexis Ohanian Sr., and Antetokounmpo brothers Giannis, Thanasis, Kostas, and...
Serena Williams has positioned herself for a lifetime of success. However, as a mother, her children’s well-being also defines true victory. Williams and her husband, Reddit Founder Alexis Ohanian, have two daughters: Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., who is now 6 years old and was born on Sept. 1, 2017, and Adira River Ohanian, born in August 2023. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) Early on, Williams and Ohanian began making moves to establish wealth for their daughters. When Olympia was 2 years old, she made history as the youngest professional sports team owner. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, she became part-owner of the women’s soccer team Angel City FC (Los Angeles, CA), along with her parents. “As someone who spends hours kicking around a football with my two-year-old daughter, I want her to have a front-row seat to this revolution,” Ohanian said in a National Women’s Soccer League news release at the time. “I’m personally investing on...
Serena Williams learned money management early on in her teens. Thanks to her father, Richard, Serena has received a wealth of knowledge to apply to the business landscape. In fact, during an interview on Bloomberg Originals’ “The Deal” podcast, hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly, she recalls receiving substantial checks from companies including Puma. Per Andscape, Serena had reportedly received $13 million over a five-year period with the apparel brand. What’s more, the task of managing those earnings fell entirely on her. “Literally, my first checks from whether it was Puma, like I got these huge checks. [My dad], he’s like, you figure it out. We had to figure it out,” Serena said on the podcast. “I’m literally living at his house in the bedroom next to Venus. I was 16 and he’s like, you know, most parents, you know, they take your money. They take something. But you know, he’s like, ‘You figure it out.’ And so I remember having to figure that out and having to learn how to...
It was never about the money for tennis legend Serena Williams. During an interview on Bloomberg Originals’ “The Deal” podcast hosted by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Kelly, she recalls forgetting to pick up her award checks after winning tournaments, necessitating friendly reminders from her accountant. “When I started tennis, first of all, I’m from Compton, CA, and I remember playing on these courts, and my life was great. I never felt like I needed anything. So for me, money was never a motivation,” Williams told the hosts. “I remember when I first started, back in the day, they used to write out checks after you won your tournament. And I would always forget to get the checks. And so at the end of the year they would always have to say, ‘Serena, we have all these checks for you.’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God.’ And at the time, I had an accountant who would be like, ‘Serena. They sent me all these checks that you would forget to get from the tournaments.'” Instead, Williams was more focused...
Not having a chance to invest in major players in tech ultimately catapulted Serena Williams into the investment ring. During an interview on Bloomberg’s “The Deal,” Williams recalls a time in her tennis journey when she could have faced less pressure to win on the court if she had placed dollars in companies such as Facebook, Airbnb and Google — all companies valued at more than $100 billion today. “Tennis is all sponsor based, and I would see like some of these sponsors come up, but I’m like, ‘Well I have some little cash, like how did I not invest in Facebook? How can I invest in Airbnb or how did I miss Google? Or like, you know, all these companies,'” Williams said on “The Deal.” “ And I started to ask these questions like, ‘Why am I out here breaking my neck and sweating when I could have invested in these companies and I could still be doing the same thing, but it wouldn’t have to be such dire needs, ‘I’ve gotta win this U.S. Open this year. I’ve gotta pay these bills.’ So, I...
NBA legend Michael Jordan is enlisting a team of athletic superstars as co-owners of his award-winning tequila company. In a press release shared with AFROTECH™, the NBA Hall of Famer has tapped Serena Williams, Derek Jeter, and a host of other athletes and sports enthusiasts as investors in his award-winning portfolio of luxury tequilas, Cincoro Tequila. “Cincoro has always been special to me because of the authentic friendships we’ve established around enjoying Cincoro and spending time together, designing it, experiencing it, and tasting it. We are constantly striving for greatness,” Jordan, co-founder of Cincoro Tequila, said. “And now that we’re welcoming in some of my closest friends to the business, I’m looking forward to this next era of Cincoro alongside this all-star team.” The company’s new ownership group, Team Cincoro, also includes RedBird Capital Partners Founder and Managing Partner Gerry Cardinale; The Lerner Family, owners of the Washington Nationals; former NFL...
Journalist and TV host Elaine Welteroth and tennis-champion-turned-entrepreneur Serena Williams have joined forces to address the alarming maternal mortality crisis in the United States. In April 2024, a Time op-ed from the two mother powerhouses was released in alignment with Black Maternal Health Week. Williams has been open about her first childbirth in 2017 being life-threatening and causing her to undergo four surgeries afterward. Moreover, Welteroth has shared her own experience of feeling unsafe with doctors after becoming pregnant in 2021 — leading her in the direction of midwifery care, which she described as “the best decision I ever made,” per a previous Time piece. Now, the two are taking a step further than just raising awareness. According to the latest Time article, Welteroth has founded Birth Fund, a coalition that works to support families in the U.S. who can’t afford the out-of-pocket costs of midwifery care. The mission behind Birth Fund initially started in...
Serena Williams’ legacy extends far beyond her greatness on the tennis court. Following her retirement in September 2022, Williams focused more of her attention on the investment arena. With over a decade of investment experience, she took a pivotal step in 2014 by establishing Serena Ventures, a venture capital fund specifically designed to champion women and underrepresented founders, according to its LinkedIn profile. “I invest in a lot of companies, early companies, and I’ve always done this. I’ve actually been investing for over 14 years and just been an entrepreneur while I was playing tennis. It’s super important for me to make a plan B while I was doing my plan A,” Williams explained in a TikTok video. The VC endeavor resulted from Williams discovering the evident absence of venture capital directed toward certain demographics, which prompted her to become a vessel for change. As noted on its website, the company’s portfolio comprises 79% underrepresented founders, 54% women...
