Money isn’t everything, but everything requires money! And not everyone is like Jannik Sinner, who’d say “I don’t play for money,” right? Money allows us to have choices and shape our lives. Especially to empowering women to live their lives on their own terms. Not many would know that the American tennis legend, Billie Jean King, at just 12 years old, committed her life to equal rights and opportunities for all. Luckily, King has got a philanthropist wife, Ilana Kloss, who dished out crucial advice for young girls: “Look at much broader lengths.” 

On Thursday, the 68-year-old South African featured at the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast with her life partner. During the podcast, she said, “You have to follow the money. It’s not just because you want more and more money, but money allows you to have choices and that’s why Billie always tells women, young girls, and everybody- follow the money.” 

Elaborating more on the reasons behind her advice, she added, “Because that’s (money) gonna give you options in your life and then you can give it away. But make it before you don’t always default into non-profit work. Look at much broader lengths.”

Last year, Tony Burch, who has played and always been a fan of tennis, and King partnered for the Tory Burch Foundation Sports Fellowship, powered by the ITF’s Advantage All program. This initiative aims to increase women’s representation in sports business and promote gender equality in tennis. For those who are unaware, Tony Burch is a fashion designer and the founder of the Tory Burch clothing brand and the Tory Burch Foundation, which empowers women and women entrepreneurs to grow and scale their businesses by providing access to capital, as well as education and digital resources. 

As Burch explains, “Women founders in sports face the same challenges as our Fellows: access to capital, bias and stereotypes. Through this fellowship, a woman founder in the industry will have access to our year-long Fellows program, including a $5,000 education grant, a founder network, and one-on-one mentoring support.”

On Saturday (16 November), Olympics.com attended a roundtable discussion with tennis legend Billie Jean King at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain, which is co-located with the Davis Cup Finals. “Women’s sports is just beginning now, and I’m glad I’m still alive to see this,” the 80-year-old King told a small roundtable of reporters at the aplty-named Billie Jean King Cup Finals, women’s tennis’ global team competition.

“It’s starting to change; we’re starting to get momentum – and people who are very wealthy are starting to invest in women,” King further remarked. 2024 was a groundbreaking year for women’s sports, marked by the Paris Olympics, where gender parity was achieved for the first time. Global icons like Simone Biles, Coco Gauff, and Caitlin Clark propelled their sports to new heights. Billie Jean King highlighted the importance of media coverage, primetime TV, and engaging storytelling in driving the growth of women’s sports.

Multiple superstars have often hailed King’s efforts towards the upliftment of women in society in the sporting world. 

Venus Williams reflects on her admiration for Billie Jean King’s tireless efforts to bring sports equality

In 2023, during an interview with CNN, renowned American alpine ski racer, Lindsey Vonn said, “Billie Jean is just the epitome of what a strong woman can do in the world when working hard. She’s been just this pillar of equality. She’s such an icon and she has never stopped working towards equality.” Similarly, Venus Williams spoke about King being an “inspiration”.

“The courage, fortitude, and commitment that have defined Billie Jean all of her life has been an inspiration to me and to so many others — men and women… It’s one thing to follow a path; it’s quite another thing to blaze that path,” said Venus Williams. Lately, we saw the WTA Finals almost equaling the prize money with the ATP Finals. There has been a significant change regarding the prize money in the Grand Slam tournaments as well. How does Billie Jean King look at this progress?

In July during an interview with Reuters, King Said, “The last two or three, four or five years now — it’s been a real progression. And I really feel fortunate that I’m alive to see this. I think about the women and the people that cared about us, women’s sports, back in the old days, and they’re not alive today. I wish they were. Because of all the work they did and it couldn’t get any place so much of the time.” How has the sports world made progress?

Reflecting on her thoughts on this massive upliftment in sports, Billie Jean King said that the IOC is “showing the world it’s doing the right thing.” A month ago, she also highlighted how women’s sport changed the lifelong perspective of being a “charity.” So, definitely, there has been a transition on display! Share your thoughts on Billie Jean Kings and Ilana Kloss’ mission in empowering women in every aspect.