Richard Williams was born on February 16, 1942, in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. He is a tennis coach, best known for being the father and coach of popular tennis player siblings, Venus and Serena Williams. His efforts to move out of poverty and establish a career for himself and his daughters have put his net worth where it is today.
How rich is Richard Williams? As of early 2016, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $20 million, mostly earned through a successful career as a tennis coach. While not as active in the profession anymore, Richard is still often found watching her daughters play in major tournaments. He also enjoys photography and has written a book that has helped increase his wealth a bit.
Richard Williams Net Worth $20 Million
Richard was born into a poor family, raised by a single mother after an abusive father had abandoned them. According to him, he even made a bit of money through petty crime but had helped his mother move out of their poverty-stricken situation. After graduating from high school, Richard met his first wife Betty Johnson, and they had six children before divorcing in 1973. Around six years later, he met Oracene Price, the mother of Venus and Serena.
Williams was inspired one day as he was watching television and saw Virginia Ruzici play and win a tournament for a $40,000 prize. One of the announcers mentioned that it was not bad for four days of work, which led to Richard thinking how someone could earn that much in just a few days. He then decided that he was going to turn his children into tennis stars, reportedly making a 78-page plan while learning about tennis from a man he called Old Whiskey. Richard started teaching his daughters around the age of four and the three were soon making appearances on public tennis courts. Around the late 1990s and the early 2000s, Venus and Serena started showing their skills, boosting their popularity and their collective net worth. Serena won the US Open in 1999 and Venus won the Wimbledon title in 2000. Richard had also made a name for himself, celebrating and dancing which caught broadcasters off-guard. He was also yelling “Straight Outta Compton!” which was the neighborhood the sisters grew up in.
Later in his daughter’s career, Richard reduced his court appearances, preferring to watch from the stands and side-lines. He has taken an interest in photography and can often be seen with his camera during the games. He’s also written a book with Bart Davis entitled “Black and White: The Way I See It”, which details his life, the hardships, and the decisions he’s had to make to put him where he is today.
Richard and Oracene Price divorced in 2002 and soon after he would meet Lakeisha Graham. The two would draw the attention of the media as Lakeisha is only one year older than Richard’s daughter Venus. They were married in 2010 and had a son in 2012.
