Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian won’t give up on dream of $1.4 billion-worth Rihanna headlining Athlos

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian recently revealed hat he is not willing to let go of his dream of getting Rihanna as the headliner for Athlos. Ohanian is the founder of the female-only track and field meeting series, Athlos which he launched last year in New York City in September 2024.

Ohanian's goal behind the creation of Athlos was to advance and popularize the sport of track and field on a global scale . The event was awarded silver status by World Athletics which means that the participating athletes would earn ranking points.

This year, Athlos is scheduled to take place on October 10, 2025, at the Icahn Stadium in New York City. Notable track and field stars such as Gabby Thomas, Masai Russell, and Marileidy Paulino are confirmed to compete in this year's event.

Recently, the official social media page of Athlos shared a video featuring Alexis Ohanian interacting with athletes preparing for the upcoming event. Athletes like Masai Russell and Anavia Battle discussed with Ohanian the possibility of having Rihanna, who has a net worth of $1.4 billion (according to Celebrity Net Worth), headline Athlos this year.

Serena Williams' husband in response shared that he has made attempts to contact Rihanna's team but there has been no confirmation of her participation.

Ohanian humorously mentioned the financial implications of bringing Rihanna on board, joking that it could "bankrupt" Athlos.

"So, I put in the request and the response I got back was a very friendly lol because you know she doesn’t do anything right? Millions of dollars is what it costs. Now if you want to bankrupt Athlos in a year or two, we could do that. Latto is on the list," Ohanian said.

Russell and Battle also suggested that Beyonce could be brought in as an alternative for Rihanna. However, Ohanian deemed it a lofty request and proposed considering other artists like GloRilla or Latto.

"Good Lord! I mean y’all really asking a lot of me here. I appreciate how convinced you are of my ability. GloRilla is quite a star, very popular with the kids these days," he continued.

Alexis Ohanian also said that he could try to bring in Bad Bunny to sing but he is not yet letting go of trying to get Rihanna to headline Athlos this year.

"Y’all are making a long list of stars that I’ve gotta recruit. Okay, Bad Bunny also could be a potential surprise musical guest. We’ll see. We’re still working on Rihanna but mi gusta Bad Bunny. So we’ll see what happens," Serena Williams' husband added.

Serena Williams' husband, Alexis Ohanian shared Athlos' video on his social media page and joked that the racers are keeping him on his toes with their requests.

"@athlos racers keep me on my toes..." Ohanian captioned his Instagram story.

Screen grab of Serena Williams' Instagram story [Image Source: Instagram/@alexisohanian]

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian, first met in 2015 and got married in 2017. They are parents to two children - their elder daughter Olympia, who was born on September 1, 2017 and their youngest daughter, Adira River Ohanian was born in August 2023.

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Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian: "No one has ever seen anything like Athlos before"

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian speaking at an event [Image Source: Getty Images]

Last year while speaking to Inc. about Athlos, Serena Williams husband Alexis Ohanian shared that his motivation for starting the track and field event was that he did not want the athletes, whom he described as "special" to "disappear" after the Olympics.

Ohanian also mentioned that he wants to establish Athlos as the "marquee track meet of the year."

"These athletes are special. They are phenomenal, some of the fastest humans on the planet, They shouldn’t disappear outside of the Olympics. No one has ever seen anything like Athlos before. We had to get people to believe in a dream and a vision. At a minimum, we want to make this the marquee track meet of the year. Our ambition is big. This is a huge opportunity," Ohanian said

Alongside Athlos, Alexis Ohanian has also invested in Angel City F.C., a professional soccer team based in Los Angeles that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). He is also a co-owner of the Los Angeles Golf Club (LAGC) alongside Serena and Venus Williams.

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