After Alexis Ohanian proposed to Serena Williams in 2016, no one could stop talking about the amazing stone in his left hand. The Reddit co-founder gifted her fiancรฉe with a 17-carat emerald cut diamond flanked by two smaller gems costing a whopping $3 million, making it one of the most expensive celebrity engagement rings to date. In an interview with Forbes On February 22, 2023, Ohanian reveals that an early bet on crypto helped him pay the bill. The internet entrepreneur explains that he made $50 million after investing in the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange and buying ether, another cryptocurrency token that is slightly less popular than bitcoin.
Ohanian was ahead of his time in the field of cryptocurrencies. In 2014, he first learned about the token after meeting with Coinbase executives. Once he understood its value, he decided to invest $15,000 in 50,000 ether. According New York Post, one ether is worth $1651 today, so your original investment would be worth almost $83 million. "In hindsight, I didn't invest as much as I should," she says. Forbes. After Coinbase went public in 2021, Ohanian used $26 million of its share proceeds to launch firm 776, which focuses on blockchain and other technology investments, and donated $1 million to the nonprofit. of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick called Know Your Rights, the publication. reports.
During his interview, the tech-savvy businessman also tells a story about his first date with the tennis star. "He asked me what he was doing," he recalls. โI said that I started and run this company called Reddit. She pretended that she knew, but she didn't. She goes to her phone and looks in the app store and says, 'How do you spell?' and I'm like 'REDDIT'. I'm sweating because I have to try to explain to him that we don't have an app." Williams added that because there was no applicationshe didn't think it was real.
On December 10, 2016, the CEO of the social networking site asked the last question. For him proposal, he brought his girlfriend back to the Hotel Cavalieri in Rome, where they first met a little over a year earlier. Ohanian arranged a romantic poolside table for two and draped the installation in red rose petals. After Williams said "yes," she posted a poem about the proposal in a Reddit thread.
Nine months later, the couple welcomed their daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian. Two months after that, the duo tied the knot in New Orleans during a star-studded affair with the likes of Beyoncรฉ, Jay-Z, and Kim Kardashian in attendance. The athlete wore a gala dress with a sweetheart neckline by Sarah Burton for alexander mcqueenโthe same designer Kate Middleton wore for her big day. The outfit ranks at the top for most expensive wedding dress of all time with a price tag of $3.5 million, comparable to her engagement ring.
