Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian reveals how $9,000,000,000-worth CEO inspired his leadership approach
Alexis Ohanian, the husband of Serena Williams, has quoted fellow business guru Brian Chesky. Chesky, the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, has been giving his view about business experts, referring specifically to the Golden State Warriors and its coaching setup as an example of leadership.
Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder, has much in common with Chesky. Both entrepreneurs are outspoken advocates of solid business practices and have amassed a huge amount of wealth. Chesky is the 290th richest person in the world (as per Forbes) with a net worth of over $9 billion (according to Celebrity Net Worth), representing his 10% stake in Airbnb.
Taking to his X (formerly Twitter) Ohanian passed on a well-known quote from Chesky in which he counsels against listening to so-called experts who haven't lived the experiences about which they speak:
"Be weary of business experts who've never done the things they're preaching. I do believe there's something to learn from everyone, but just because someone sat courtside for every Warriors season, doesn't mean they really know how to coach greatness."
Ohanian and wife Williams have invested heavily in several ventures, drawing from the former's extensive business experience, and Williams' unmatched tennis career. Both have their own venture capital company - Ohanian's Seven Seven Six firm, and Williams's Serena Ventures.
Alexis Ohanian has followed Chesky's advice and ignored naysayers to create successful businesses
Armenian Ohanian, who was once touted by Forbes as "The Mayor of the Internet", regularly backs himself in business. He was just 23 years of age when he sold Reddit. Most recently, Ohanian has concentrated a good deal of time, effort, and money on women's sports, despite many making a case that he would lose his money.
Last week Ohanian was invited to this year's Forbes 30/50 Summit in Abu Dhabi, and he talked about investing more than $100 million in female sports, and specifically his ownership of Angel City FC, which plays in the National Women's Soccer League. Ohanian explained how he's been able to generate huge profits from a sector his business peers insisted was uninvestable:
"Everyone, from random people on the internet, to other investors, who I respected, they all told me I was going to lose all my money, and it would never work. I'm very happy to prove them wrong. Angel City is now the most valuable team in the world at $300m."
It's not surprising that Ohanian and Chesky share a worldview. Chesky was just 27 when he founded Airbnb in 2008, and both entrepreneurs have practiced what they've preached for the past 20 years, often ignoring misplaced advice.