Giannis Antetokounmpo's Friendship With Alexis Ohanian Fuels Three Major Sports Investments
Giannis Antetokounmpo hasn't played basketball since mid-January, but he's announced three investments in the past two weeks: prediction-market platform Kalshi, Chelsea FC Women, and delivery service Gopuff. The Chelsea deal represents his third investment alongside Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, highlighting a partnership that began with a direct message during the pandemic.
The friendship started in 2020 when Ohanian resigned from Reddit's board amid the national reckoning over George Floyd's death. Ohanian, married to tennis legend Serena Williams since 2017, asked to be replaced by a Black candidate and wrote in a blog post: "I'm writing this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: 'What did you do?'"
"That was a very isolating time for me," Ohanian, 42, told Front Office Sports. "It was the middle of COVID. I didn't have many people from tech, or founders and folks who I considered close friends, reaching out."
He heard from Thanasis Antetokounmpo, brother of the Milwaukee Bucks superstar. They developed a friendship, eventually lifting weights together and discussing legacy-building. Their group chat is literally titled "Legacy."
"Giannis thinks of himself as building a legacy," Ohanian said.
The pair now shares three investments. They started with Alt, a sports trading card company that launched in March 2021 with $31 million in Series A funding led by Ohanian's venture capital firm Seven Seven Six. Antetokounmpo joined months later when Alt announced a $75 million round.
In June 2023, Ohanian, Williams, and her sister Venus led a group purchasing TGL's Los Angeles Golf Club, the first team in the indoor golf league. Less than three months later, Antetokounmpo and three brothers joined the ownership group.
Ohanian structured TGL ownership deliberately after learning from his experience launching NWSL club Angel City with actress Natalie Portman and others. He previously told FOS he gave away around 75% of Angel City's equity "for free" to co-founders who invested "no money," creating an unsustainable model.
"One of the big lessons from Angel City was, if I'm going to be a control owner, make sure I actually have control," Ohanian said.
The duo most recently partnered on Chelsea FC Women, which plays in the Women's Super League. Ohanian bought in at a valuation exceeding $265 million in May and took a board seat. Antetokounmpo announced his entry February 7.
"Chelsea's history speaks for itself, and I'm excited to contribute to the future by supporting continued growth and impact in women's sport," Antetokounmpo wrote on social media. "This is about ambition, legacy, and pushing the game to new heights."
Chelsea won a record-breaking sixth straight Women's Super League title last year.
Neither takes for granted life's fragility-Antetokounmpo's father died in 2017, while Ohanian's mother passed in 2008. Both were 54 years old.
"He's obviously an elite athlete, but he's so humble and incredibly long-term focused," Ohanian said. "He motivates the hell out of me."
