Alexis Ohanian, the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, buys stake in Chelsea Women’s FC

Alexis Ohanian, the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, has bought a major stake in Chelsea Women FC.

Alexis Ohanian, the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, has bought a stake of just under 10 per cent in Chelsea Women FC.

Ohanian, the co-founder of the social media platform Reddit, will take a shareholding worth more than pounds 20 million in a deal that values the team at more than pounds 200 million – which would make it the most valuable women’s team in the world.

The 42-year-old New Yorker will take a seat on the board of Chelsea Women, and Williams, 43, is also expected to be engaged in the club.

Williams, Ohanian and their family are set to be at Wembley on Sunday to watch Chelsea take on Manchester United in the Women’s FA Cup final, as they seek to wrap up a league and cup domestic Treble. All of Ohanian’s investment will go to the women’s team.

Serena Williams and her husband Alexis Ohanian.

Chelsea announced a year ago that they were “repositioning” Chelsea Women so that it was a separate entity from the men’s team, and appointed the merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners to sound out prospective investors. The bank had three rival bids and Chelsea’s owners have chosen to go with Ohanian’s investment company, Seven Seven Six Capital.

Significantly, he had been the majority shareholder of Angel City, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) franchise, which last year sold for dollars 250 million (pounds 190 million), at the time the most paid for any women’s team.

Under the deal that separated the women’s team from the men’s last year, Chelsea FC Holdings sold Chelsea Women FC to a sister company, Blueco 22 Midco Ltd, for pounds 200 million.

That move enabled Chelsea to avoid breaching the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules by declaring it as income, although they were not able to do so for Uefa’s financial rules, as European football’s governing body does not allow transactions between sister companies to be treated as income or profit.

Sam Kerr in among Chelsea’s stable of stars. Picture: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

The pounds 200 million value has still to be approved by the Premier League as being of fair market value but the investment of more than pounds 20 million by Ohanian for just under 10 per cent of the shares values the women’s team at slightly more than pounds 200 million. Indeed, club projections are that it could be worth between pounds 500 million and pounds 1 billion in the next decade, which culminates in the Women’s World Cup being hosted by the UK in 2035.

By comparison, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund took over Newcastle United in 2021 for pounds 305 million, while the takeover of Everton by The Friedkin Group in December was worth just under pounds 700 million, including taking over the club’s debts.

Chelsea lifted the Women's Super League trophy earlier this month. Picture: Rhianna Chadwick/PA

Ohanian and the Chelsea owners expect women’s football in Europe to continue to grow quickly, following in the footsteps of its success in North America.

He is understood to view Chelsea and Barcelona as the biggest women’s clubs in Europe, with the women’s game on the Continent now set to attract even greater interest from sports giants such as Nike and Adidas.

Chelsea will see the investment by Ohanian as vindication for their decision to separate the women’s team from the men’s, and to appoint Aki Mandhar as Chelsea Women’s first dedicated chief executive.

Other Women’s Super League teams may now look to adopt a similar model as they look to catch up with Chelsea, who won the league without losing a game. Arsenal, who finished second in the WSL, are in the final of the women’s Champions League against Barcelona, while Manchester United and Manchester City have also invested heavily in their women’s teams.

Originally published as Alexis Ohanian, the husband of tennis icon Serena Williams, buys stake in Chelsea Women’s FC