Forbes reported that among the most powerful women in the United States, Serena Williams ranks third after Michele Roberts and Lesa France Kennedy. The latter two women both work in CEO positions, Roberts working with the NBA and Kennedy working with NASCAR. They are both the first women to hold their respective positions.
At the top of the list is Michele Roberts, 62, who is the executive director of the NBA. She plays a large role in the interests of about 350 NBA players and more than $3 billion in league salary money. She was the first woman to lead a major professional sports union in North America and inspires many women currently in or seeking CEO positions.
Lisa France Kennedy is the CEO of International Speedway corporation and a member of the board of directors at NASCAR. She is 56 years old and manages 13 of America’s biggest race tracks. She is the granddaughter of Bill France Sr., who founded NASCAR in 1948.
However, Serena Williams is by far the most impressive woman to make the list because she is not only arguably the best female athlete in the world, but also the highest paid female athlete and the youngest woman to make Forbes’ list, with a 38 year age difference between the oldest woman and Serena Williams.
Serena Williams holds the Open-era record with 23 wins in singles, 14 in doubles, and two in mixed doubles with a winning average of 86 percent. Because of Serena’s numerous titles, she earned approximately $84 million in career prize money, which is about $50 million more than any other female tennis player. She also has about a dozen endorsements, including Beats by Dre, Nike, Wilson, and JP Morgan Chase.
Forbes stated that the women on their list were chosen by a panel of judges who looked for certain criteria. The process, according to Forbes, “Was spread over two parts. First, our panelists each submitted 30 unranked names to create a pool of well over 100 possible candidates for the list. The pool was winnowed to the finalists who appeared most often on voter ballots… A first-place vote was worth 30 points, a second-place vote 29 and so on to determine the final rankings.”
Some notable women who made the list include Christine Driessen, the executive vice president and chief financial officer at ESPN, at number four; Val Ackerman, commissioner of the Big East Conference, at number five; Billie Jean King, who helped start the Women’s Tennis Association, World TeamTennis, and Women’s Sports Foundation, at number six; Condoleezza Rice, leader of the NCAA’s Commission on College Basketball and former U.S. Secretary of State, at number seven; Jeanie Buss, co-owner and president of the LA Lakers, at number eight; Michelle Wilson, co-president of WWE, at number nine; and Kim Ng, senior vice president of baseball operations in the MLB, at number ten. The remaining top 25 most powerful women in sports for 2018 can be found on the Forbes website.