Serena Williams’ nearly-15-year professional tennis career has shown her to be one of the finest athletes in the world, with dozens of awards and countless titles and gold medals to her name. Anyone with a passing interest in the sport, or in women’s athletics in general, would certainly know who she is, as well as her sister Venus Williams.
Interestingly, her husband, on the other hand, has lived a fairly private life compared to her, despite having a claim to fame that should probably put him in the same kind of public eye. As the founder of Reddit, 6th-most-visited site in the US and 21st in the world, it’s surprising that so few people would recognise his name.
Let’s take a deep dive into the life of the Serena Williams’ husband; entrepreneur and investor Alexis Ohanian.
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Who Is Serena Williams’ Husband, Alexis Ohanian?
Alexis Kerry Ohanian was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 24, 1983, to Anke and Chris Ohanian. His paternal grandparents were Armenian refugees who fled to the United States after the 1915 Armenian Genocide. He grew up in Maryland, where he went to Howard High School. He’s a relatively youthful 36 years of age – younger than his wife, but equally accomplished!
Where Did Alexis Ohanian study?
Alexis went on to study at the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce and College of Arts & Sciences, graduating with degrees in commerce and history.
The Front Page Of The Internet
Alexis Ohanian’s college roommate at UVA was Steve Huffman, a computer science major. During spring break, he and Huffman visited Boston to attend a talk by the co-founder of startup incubator Y Combinator, Paul Graham. The pair came to propose an idea to Graham – an SMS-driven food ordering service, which they called My Mobile Menu.
At the time, mobile Internet penetration was still far too shallow for such an idea to really take off. But Graham had a different idea that he thought would suit Alexis and Steve. In a brainstorming session that brought up existing sites like Slashdot and del.icio.us, the trio came up with an idea for a ‘site people go to to find something new,’ as Huffman wrote in his notes.
Alexis and Steve launched Reddit in June 2005, as part of the first wave of startups that Y Combinator helped prop up.
After Reddit
In 2006, media giant Condé Nast acquired Reddit. Alexis continued to work closely, though no longer full-time, as part of the board, but he’d already had other plans for what to do next.
In 2007, Alexis launched a startup called Breadpig, a producer of geek novelty items with social enterprise leanings. Billing itself as an ‘uncorporation’, Breadpig aims to use profits for charity rather than focusing on improving wealth.
In 2010, Alexis founded venture capital fund Initialized Capital along with Posterous co-founder Garry Tan. Initialized Capital would make it big, and today manages a $USD 500-million ($AUD 720-million) portfolio of over 100 companies.
What Is Alexis Ohanian’s Net Worth?
After all the success stories he’s founded and the work he’s done with big-time organisations, Alexis Ohanian’s net worth today is a hefty $USD 9-million ($AUD 13-million).
How Did Alexis Ohanian Meet Serena Williams?
Alexis Ohanian met Serena Williams in Rome on May 12, 2015.
At the time, he was in Italy to participate as a speaker at the Festival of Media Global conference. Serena, on the other hand, was there for the 2015 Italian Open. They were both staying at the Rome Cavalieri hotel, and Alexis sat at a table next to Serena and her friends. Serena’s group tried to get him to leave, as they were waiting for others to arrive, but eventually decided to invite him to join them instead after he proved particularly hard to get rid of.
The rest, as they say, is history. They got engaged in December 2016, and were married on November 16, 2017.
Is Alexis Ohanian Religious?
Originally, for Alexis Ohanian, religion had no formal place in his life, like a particular denomination or church. But recently he has started adopting Serena Williams’ religion as a Jehovah’s Witness. “Being a Jehovah’s Witness is important to me, but I’ve never really practiced it and have been wanting to get into it. Alexis didn’t grow up going to any church, but he’s been really receptive and even takes the lead. He puts my needs first,” Serena said in an interview with Vogue.
Do Alexis Ohanian And Serena Williams Have Children?
Alexis and Serena have one baby girl, Alexis Olympia Ohanian, Jr. Serena was pregnant with Olympia when she won the Australian Open in 2017, and perhaps some of that athletic greatness will rub off on the child, along with Alexis’ entrepreneurial brilliance.
Where Are They Now?
Today, Alexis resides with Serena and Olympia in their mansion in Beverly Hills.
RELATED: Serena Williams cuddles with daughter in adorable new selfie
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