Alexis Ohanian is on a mission to become one of the most influential figures in women’s sports. His investment in Chelsea Women is a huge step to achieving his goal.
In the sports world, many know him as Serena Williams’s husband. In tech, he is better recognised as the Reddit co-founder (and former executive chairman) and venture capitalist.
Ohanian knows his wife will always command the spotlight. At Sunday’s Women’s FA Cup final, which Chelsea won 3-0 against Manchester United to clinch a historic undefeated domestic treble, Williams waltzed through the mixed zone first, the entourage — including her husband — trailing behind the tennis great, cherubs in her wake.
But the 42-year-old is determined to ensure his daughters grow up hearing “amazing things about him”, too, as his email signature reminds you. And on Sunday, Ohanian was the reason the most recognisable and powerful women’s sportstar on the planet was at Wembley in the first place.
The American is purchasing an eight per cent stake in the club that would value Chelsea at £245million ($326m), making them the most expensive women’s soccer team globally, surpassing Angel City, the NWSL club in which he also has a stake.
“A game-changing endorsement for women’s game but also for young girls,” Chelsea’s head coach, Sonia Bompastor, said of the investment before the final.
Ohanian, meanwhile, told the BBC that the “sky’s the limit” for his latest acquisition, proclaiming confidently that, one day, Chelsea would become a “billion-dollar franchise” and be “America’s team”. Bold predictions, but perhaps not far-fetched if this already hugely successful team is invested in further.
Dressed in a well-cut suit and a Chelsea blue tie, the New Yorker was speaking to the UK broadcaster pitch side during half-time of a cup final his team assuredly won, thrashing the holders to complete the feat of going unbeaten across their 30 matches in the Women’s Super League (WSL), League Cup and FA Cup this season. “It’s a very special, special club,” he said. Certainly, by some distance, Chelsea is the most dominant team in women’s football in England.
Alexis Ohanian was with his family in the royal box for the Women’s FA Cup final (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
With Ohanian in Wembley’s royal box was his wife and daughter Olympia, both dressed in blue to leave no doubt that they are all very much Chelsea supporters now.
Williams snapped photos and shared videos on social media of sub-par coffee poured in paper cups, the flasks bordering on empty despite potential jet lag. Later, the pair were on the pitch, joining in the celebrations with players, taking their turn to lift the trophy. A conversation with Bompastor centred on tennis, and the potential of one of their children being a future Chelsea star. The pair mingled in the throng of blue triumph as if it was run-of-the-mill for them, which it might be soon.
Ohanian came to the fore relatively late in Chelsea’s search for minority investment in their women’s team. That process began last June, when the club’s ownership, led by Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly, sold the women’s team to a sister company, Blueco 22 Midco Ltd, for a profit in the accounts of £200m.
At the time, many outside Stamford Bridge perceived the move as another creative way for Chelsea to ensure compliance with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), but part of the club’s stated motivation for repositioning its women’s team was to create a mechanism for specific investment separate from the men’s team.
Global merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners helped evaluate potential minority investors in a competitive process, which, according to individuals familiar with it, attracted a mix of private and institutional investors and two other interested parties willing to invest at and north of the £200m valuation.
But Ohanian represented the perfect investor for the eight-time WSL winners. His experience as co-founder of Angel City, coupled with his very public passion for women’s sports, marked him out as someone Chelsea wanted to partner with.
He has been enthusiastically reposting Chelsea Women content on social media for some time and his understanding of the importance of visibility to the club’s growth chimes with the vision of Aki Mandhar, who was hired from The Athletic to be Chelsea Women’s first dedicated CEO last year.
Nothing is expected to change in the day-to-day operations, but that Ohanian is providing primary investment in the women’s team will expand the club’s ability to make further improvements to facilities, player support, match-day experiences and many other areas.
According to sources, who wanted to remain anonymous to protect relationships, the money is most likely to be invested in improving the women’s training facilities at Cobham, which many behind the scenes believe have fallen behind those offered by WSL rivals.
Ohanian has said his involvement isn’t just financial. “I’m just grateful to play a part now as a board member and minority owner and really make it America’s team,” he told Squawk Box, emphasising he will be a hands-on minority investor. In addition to joining the club’s board, he told Squawk Box he is also bringing along his wife, who is expected to play an active role in the club’s development.
He said he was drawn to the large social following of Chelsea Women, a space he believes he can grow. The club has four million followers on Instagram — double that of Sunday’s fellow finalists, United — and over 800k followers on TikTok. According to a Women’s Sports Trust report, their 167 million views on that platform in 2024 were the most of any women’s club team in any sport.
Ohanian’s investment in Chelsea is the latest addition to a growing portfolio in women’s sports, which started after the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France when Ohanian traveled to Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires to meet Victoire Cogevina and Matias Castello, co-founders of Gloria, the social media app that helps athletes in remote areas promote themselves and get scouted. In 2020, the app received backing from Ohanian’s firm, Initialized Capital.
“I was mouthing off on Twitter during the Women’s World Cup a little early this year about how undervalued women’s football in particular was and how there was a business opportunity,” he told Buenos Aires Herald during his visit. “What impressed me as an American is that we take for granted how popular football is across the world. When you see numbers, a few billion people watching the World Cup, you realise that this is a massive market opportunity that already exists — it’s truly global and with people connected throughout the world.”
Soon after that trip, where he stepped onto a football pitch for the first time when at River Plate’s Monumental stadium, Ohanian joined Angel City’s group, along with Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman, tech and gaming executive Julie Uhrman and a group of former USWNT players. They paid $2m (£1.5m) in franchise fees and quickly turned the team into one of the most financially successful franchises in women’s soccer. Angel City is now valued at $250m, following the sale of the majority stake to journalist Willow Bay and her husband, Disney CEO Bob Iger, last summer.
Ohanain’s sports investments are not limited to soccer. He launched Athlos in 2024, a women-only track tournament that debuted at New York’s Icahn Stadium last September. The inaugural event brought together 36 elite female athletes from around the globe, including 200m Olympic champion Gabby Thomas and 1,500m women’s world-record holder Faith Kipyegon, competing across six running disciplines for a prize purse exceeding $600,000, and the winner of each event taking home $60,000. Instead of medals, each first-place finisher also took home a sterling silver crown from Tiffany & Co., designed specifically for the tournament. The October edition of Athlos will also include the high jump.
A few months later, Seven Seven Six — a tech company Onahian founded that deploys venture capital — invested in varying areas: USWNT forward Midge Purce’s docuseries, The Offseason, the soccer video game Goals, and the Los Angeles franchise of Tiger Woods’ TGL golf league.
Last month, Front Office Sports reported that Seven Seven Six submitted a bid in response to the NFL’s request for proposals as it seeks investors for professional men’s and women’s flag football leagues. Meanwhile, Williams has publicly signalled her interest in owning one of the league’s first franchises.
Alongside his investments, the Brooklyn native supports women’s sports with his donations. Last December, the University of Virginia (UVA) alumnus committed to a multi-year “transformational” gift to its women’s basketball program.
Ohanian’s passion is evident. As UVA said in its December statement, “Alexis’ commitment to women’s sports is unparalleled.”
But the scale of his involvement with Chelsea, given his sprawling sports portfolio, remains to be seen. As Manchester United’s head coach said in his post-match press conference, it is “easy” to show up for the final. “Let’s see if they come over in the season,” Marc Skinner said.
Williams and Ohanian take pictures at Wembley’s royal box on Sunday (Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images)
Ohanian doesn’t cut the figure of a final-or-bust investor. And that is critical for Chelsea.
The team have conquered England in the most emphatic of fashions this season, but once more fell short in Europe, undone by the familiar foe of Barcelona. To truly be the best, they need to conquer comprehensively — that includes America, according to Ohanian. Despite their huge success, Chelsea — who this year broke the women’s transfer record to sign USWNT defender Naomi Girma — can still improve. Perhaps that is where Ohanian sees the opportunity.
“This will be a billion-dollar franchise one day and beyond and I hope my dollars, my pounds, can go towards that in a big way, and especially back home in America,” he told the BBC on Sunday.
(Illustration: Demetrius Robinson/The Athletic; top photos: Clive Brunskill, Tom Dulat, David Rogers/Getty Images)
4
(@alexisohanian) 
