King is a world-renowned tennis player. Billie Jean King net worth is around $20 million. She has won 12 singles, 16 doubles, and 11 mixed titles for a total of 39 Grand Slams.
King was the first female athlete to earn over $1 million in prize money and the first-ever woman invited into the International Tennis sports championship. In 1973, she became the first woman to win the Wimbledon singles title three times.
Who is Billie Jean King?
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Billie Jean was the world’s number one woman tennis player for six out of ten years, from 1966 to 1975. She won thirty-nine significant titles in tennis: 12 in singles, 16 in women’s dual matches, and 11 in miscellaneous doubles.
She was also a part of the team of VUS (Victorious United States) for 7 Federation and 9 Wightman Cups. In addition, she enjoyed captainship for three years in the United States Federation Cup.
Billie was a social advocate for gender equitability and was a representative of social justice and equality for an extended period. Using this sport at the age of twenty-nine, King won the conflict of sexes by playing a tennis match in opposition to Bobby Riggs, who was a fifty-five-year-old.
She was the leader and the Creator of WSF (Women’s Support Foundation) and WTA (Women’s Tennis Association). In the 1970s, she played a significant role in pursuing the Virginia Slims Cigarette brand for sponsoring women’s tennis teams. In the 2000s, she went abroad with her parents and served in their Philip Morris Company.
In 1978, Billie was introduced to the International Tennis Hall of Fame members. In 2010, she won the Fed Cup Award of Excellence trophy. Moreover, she was the collective winner with John Wooden for winning the “Sportsman of the Year” award in 1972. In 1975, she won the “Times Persons of the Year” award.
She had also won an achievement award for Sunday Times “Sportswoman of the Year” lifetime and the Presidential “Medal of Freedom.”
In 1990, she was admitted into the NWHF (National Women’s Hall of Fame), and a few years later, the USTA National Tennis Center was renamed to include King’s name in New York. She won the “Sports personality achievement award” from BBC in 2018. In 2020, in her honor, the federation cup was retitled the “Billie King’s Cup.” Billie Jean King net worth is a result of extremely hard work and commiment to the game.
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Billie Jean King Net Worth Estimate
New York, NY USA – September 9, 2017: Billie Jean King attends women final at US Open tennis tournament between Madison Keys & Sloane Stephens at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
Billie Jean King net worth is estimated to be $20 million.
In 1961, her earnings were minimal, barely amounting to $2000. Then, in 1971, her earnings were $100,000. In 1981, her earnings were $500,000, and in 1983 her earnings were between $900,000 to $1,970,000. In 2018 it was up to $7,200,000. Most of Billie Jean King net worth is made of grand slams titles prizes.
Billie Jean King Early Life
Billie Jean King belongs to a Christian family. Her mother was a homemaker, and her father was an outstanding basketball and baseball player. Her mother was great at swimming. Randy Moffitt, her brother, was a great league baseball pitcher, and he pitched for a decade in the grand leagues for the Houston Astros, San Francisco, and the TBJ.
When Billie was a child, she excelled at softball and baseball. She also played shortstop at the age of 10 with a team of girls who were four to five years older than her. The team won the championship in the Long Beach softball tournament.
She found an interest in tennis at the age of eleven, and her parents proposed that she focus her attention on more refined sports, as they disagreed with her interest in tennis. Despite this, she saved $8 from her pocket money and bought her first racket.
She went to the free public courts in Long Beach to learn her first tennis lesson with her school friend. She learned a lot from the free classes from Clyde Walker, who was a professional and had worked in Long Beach.
The tennis center in this city, shortly named after Billie, provided accessible tennis facilities to all types of players.
Her aggressive playing style was a big hurdle in her first tennis tournaments when she was a child. Finally, however, she found her stride in her sport with a little recognition. A sportswriter for the Long Beach, Bob Martin, in his Press-Telegram, got in touch about Billie’s achievements in a tennis column every week.
The first conflict in Billie’s tennis career came when she was young when she was not allowed to be in the group photo at a tournament as she was wearing the tennis shorts that her mother sewed for her instead of a white-colored tennis dress.
Once Billie, along with her family, appeared in the Brethren’s Church, where Bob Richerd (two times Olympic pole-vaulting winner) and the minister of the former athlete were also invited. When the King was thirteen or fourteen years old, Richard asked her what she was planning to do with her life. She replied that she wanted to be one of the world’s top tennis players.
She gained her early education from Polytechnic High School Long Beach. She completed her school graduation in 1961, and then she was admitted into Los Angele State College. Despite her striving, she did not meet her graduation requirements for college because her focus was on tennis.
In 1963, when she was in college, she met Larry King in the library. They began to like each other, and soon they got engaged. On September 17, 1965, they married in Long Beach when Billie Jean was twenty years old, and Larry was nineteen years old.
Billie Jean King’s Height Weight
Billie’s height is 5 feet 4 inches (160cm). Her weight is around 134 pounds (61 kg).
Overall, she is a slim lady with apparent English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry. Her hair is dark brown, and her eyes are blue.
Billie Jean King’s Place of Birth and Early Life
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Billie Jean’s birthplace is Long Beach, California, USA, and she was born on November 22, 1943. Her nationality is American, and she received her education in her birthplace town and started her tennis career here. Currently, her occupation is a Former Professional Tennis Player.
Her father’s name is Willis Jefferson Moffitt (a firefighter). Her mother’s name is Mildred Rose. Billie has one brother, Randy Moffitt, and he is a baseball pitcher.
She belonged to a methodist family, and she was very pious when she was a child. Once, she expressed her desire to become a clergywoman when she was young.
Billie’s mother was primarily a homemaker but participated in selling Avon and Tupperware as a part-time occupation. Her father served as an engineer in the local fire department.
King had full support from her parents to take part in sports. When Billie was one year old, her father played basketball in admiration of Jackie Robinson when he was in lower college.
Her father also received a call to try out for the NBA, but ultimately rejected it because of some family commitments. Billie’s brother Randy had also shown his love for sports and worked hard for 13 years to become a Great League Baseball pitcher.
Billie developed her interest in tennis when she went to the Country club with her school friend Susan William, and there she played tennis for the first time.
At the time between the 1950s and 1960s, tennis was considered to be a country club game. Therefore, this sports opportunity was not readily available for children like Billie King. Upon exploring, she learned that in Houghton Park, Long Beach, free instructions were available at the public courts. She was devoted to this sport, and soon she bought her first racquet with her small savings by doing additional jobs for her neighbors and parents.
She won her very first championship in South California when she was only 14 years old. When she was 15 years old, she joined tennis coaching classes from Tennis Champion Alice Marble, who was the tennis champion in 1930.
She established herself and enrolled in the privileged country club, and it was this crucial period of her life where she awakened the talent that would propel her career.
Billie Jean King’s Career
One of the most experienced and famous female athletes in history, Billie Jean King, was a tennis legend who had won 39 Grand Slam singles titles, including 12 at Wimbledon. She also won four doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles.
King was the first woman to win a major singles tournament with a metal racket, and she was the first woman tennis player to earn more than $100,000 in prize money in a season.
She was the fifth woman ever to win a Grand Slam singles tournament. In addition, she helped to found the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and was invited into the International Tennis championship collection in 1987. King was also recognized for advocating for gender equality and LGBT rights.
She turned professional and played in her first Wimbledon tournament the following year. She reached the Wimbledon singles final twice, in 1971 and 1972, but lost both times to Evonne Goolagong Cawley. King finally won Wimbledon in 1973, defeating Margaret Court 6-4, 6-4.
She also won the Australian Open (defeating Chris Evert) and the French Open (defeating Virginia Wade). In 1974, she became the first-ever woman to win a Grand Slam event on grass, hard court, and clay in the same year; she accomplished this feat by winning Wimbledon in the U.S.
In 1975, King reached her third consecutive Wimbledon final and won her second Federation Cup with the United States team. The following year, she again reached the Wimbledon final but lost to Evonne Goolagong Cawley; however, she won her third U.S. open title that year by defeating Chris Evert.
King first gained global praise as a tennis player in 1961, when she won the United States National Championships. In 1970, she became the first woman ever to win a Grand Slam singles tournament with her victory at the Australian Open.
These successes helped make Billie Jean King net worth around $20 million.
Billie Jean King’s Personal Life and Family
Billie Jean was engaged to Larry King in 1964, and they got married in 1965 in Long Beach, California. Billie praised her husband, Larry, for introducing her to feminism and supporting her in her tennis career. Once in a press meeting, she expressed her love for Larry. She said that she was in deep love with Larry when they married.
By 1968, King perceived that she was attracted to women. In 1971, she started an integrated relationship with her secretary, Marilyn Barnett. Marilyn Barnett was living free of cost in the King’s house. In 1979, Billie Jeans asked her secretary Marilyn to leave her house, but her secretary threatened to leak the photos and videos made during their two years of relationship.
The proofs also include love letters from King to Marilyn Barnett, call records, paid bills, and credit card receipts. Marilyn continued blackmailing the King, and she used her half income and the Malibu house where Billie had been staying.
Billie did not know that someone had released her relationship in public until a reporter from Los Angeles Times asked her about it, but she denied this relationship. Finally, Billie acknowledged her relationship with Marilyn in 1981 when it became public. She said that making a relationship with her secretary was just a fling and a mistake. So, despite the fling, she continued her marriage with Larry.
Billie Jean King net worth got hit hard by lawsuits charges. All up, she spent about $2 million when the court proceedings finally settled. In December 1981, they court-ordered Barnett to leave the King’s house immediately, and her threat to Billie came close to extortion by the court.
A few months later, King’s house was destroyed during strange winter storms on the Southern California coastline.
King had an abortion in 1971 that was made public in a Ms. Magazine article. Larry had disclosed Billie’s abortion without asking her.
Billie Jean King’s Net Worth & Bio Summary
| Name | Billie Jean King |
| Real Name | Billie Jean Moffitt |
| Age | 78 |
| Place of Birth | Long Beach, California |
| Occupation | Tennis Player |
| Net Worth Estimate | $20 million |
| Date of Birth | November 22, 1943 |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 feet 4 inches (160cm) |
| Weight | 134 pounds (61 kg) |
| Marital Status | Married |