Venus Williams on What Success Really Looks Like

Tennis legend Venus Williams won seven Grand Slam titles and $42 million in prize money. But she knows that money doesn’t equal happiness. 

“Success is when you’re happy,” Williams said on SoFi’s YouTube series Richer Lives. “When you are sad, it hurts, and nothing can take that away. No amount of money, no amount of success, no amount of winning can take away that pain. If you can figure out how to be happy and still win and still have great finances, now that’s living.”

Speaking to Vivian Tu, aka Your Rich BFF, Williams discussed investing, home ownership, and why it costs so much to be a professional tennis player. 

Getting Paid

What about those giant novelty checks? “You can take them if you want to, but you can’t cash them,” Williams said. After she won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, she didn’t stash them “like in Happy Gilmore where he took them and put them in his car.”

Instead, she had the money wired to her accounts. And she needed that money. Tennis players have a lot of expenses: flights, hotel rooms, physical trainers, coaches, and a hitting partner. Some even bring a psychologist and PR person to tournaments with them. 

Williams, however, didn’t travel with a big entourage, partly because she learned about the value of money at an early age. “My mom was very serious about living within your means and not showing off your money.”

Value of Investing

Williams thinks your money should work for you. “You don’t want to have a lot of cash lying around,” she said. “You should be investing in things that are growing and compounding interest” and creating “cash flow for you.”

While buying property can be a good idea, it’s not the only option for people looking to invest, especially considering the associated taxes, maintenance fees, and insurance costs. 

“I don’t think owning your house is the American dream,” Williams said. “It’s wonderful to have a house. But instead of putting that $100,000 or $200,000 toward a down payment, should you just rent a place and invest that money? You should compare the returns.”

Her worst investment decision: “I spent too much on art once … That was this year, actually.” Everything worked out for the best. But it shows that even legends are constantly learning new life lessons. 

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