(Reuters) -Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian said his wife, 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams, had initially tried to talk him out of investing in women's soccer due to what she saw as a lack of infrastructure in women's sports.
Ohanian acquired a 10% stake in Women's Super League champions Chelsea last week. His investment of 20 million pounds ($26.89 million) values the London-based club at about 200 million pounds.
Ohanian was also the largest shareholder in U.S. National Women's Soccer League side Angel City, which he helped launch to great fanfare in 2020, before it was sold for $250 million in 2024.
"Serena actually tried to talk me out of it (starting a women's soccer team in U.S.), because I think she had been so exposed to the infrastructure around women's sports," Ohanian told CNN on Thursday.
"Because of her lived experience ... because she had to kick down a lot of doors."
Ohanian said there was huge growth potential for Chelsea, who completed a treble of domestic trophies last week following their sixth straight WSL title.
"I think a lot of well-intentioned people historically have supported women's sports in a way that ... actually held it back because it was viewed too much as charity. They led with things like, 'Oh, I'm doing this because I have a daughter," he added.
"I'm glad the discourse has now shifted ... but there's still so much more work to be done, and I really believe that this club could and should be the first billion dollar club in women's sports."
($1 = 0.7437 pounds)
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
