Quick Facts
| Full Name | Billie Jean King Moffitt |
| Birthday | November 22, 1943 |
| Birth Place | Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Nick Name | Unknown |
| Religion | Conservative Methodist |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Zodiac Sign | Sagittarius |
| Age | 78 years old |
| Height | 1.64 m (5 feet 4 1⁄2 inches) |
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lbs) |
| Hair Color | Dark brown |
| Eye Color | Blue |
| Father’s Name | Bill Moffitt |
| Mother’s Name | Betty Moffitt |
| Siblings | A younger brother, Randall James “Randy” Moffitt |
| Education | Long Beach Polytechnic (High School) California State University (College) |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Life Partner | Larry King (m. 1965-1987) Ilana Kloss (current girlfriend) |
| Profession | Former tennis player |
| Professional since | 1959 |
| Country | United States |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Retired in | 1990 |
| Net Worth | $22 million |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter |
| Official Website | billiejeanking.com |
| Merch | American Masters: Billie Jean King, Collectible Doll, Autographed Cut |
| Last Update | July, 2022 |
Billie Jean King is one of the most prestigious athletes in the world of professional tennis. Her current net worth of $22 million also comes as no surprise to her ardent supporters.
Billie, who held the title of world number one in 1996, worked in the field for a little over three decades. Throughout her career as an American representative, Jean held onto 39 Grand Slam championships.In addition to being an athlete, Billie is a strong example of a strong woman.
In actuality, King is both the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Women’s Tennis Association.
Billie presently serves as a consultant for Chicago’s First Women’s Bank. Additionally, she has always fought for social justice and gender equality.
Early Life, Parents, and Siblings of Billie Jean King
Billie Jean has made a name for herself as one of the finest women’s tennis players of all time throughout the course of these many years. Billie initially started her training with Clyde Walker as her instructor on the open courts in Long Beach, California.
Her father, Bill Moffitt, is a retired firefighter, and her mother, Betty Moffitt, is a stay-at-home mom from a traditional Methodist household.
She has a younger brother who plays baseball in the Major Leagues, Randall James “Randy” Moffitt.
Billie also played softball when she was younger and turned to tennis when she was eleven. Not to mention, the Los Angeles Tennis Club was where her career really took off.
Billie Jean used to play with a lot of aggression and displayed great quickness.
Billie’s victory in the tennis match known as the “Battle of the Sexes” at the age of 29 is among her finest accomplishments.
In addition, Jean urges Virginia Slims to support women’s tennis by becoming a sponsor. In the 2000s, she additionally worked for their company Philip Morris.
Achievements and Awards
As a skilled player, Billie Jean has already received several accolades and trophies. She appears to be the first athlete to be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.
Eventually, according to Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated, Jean was used as a sex symbol. She was in fact named the most admired lady in the world by Seventeen magazine.
She was up for induction into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in addition to the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
King is a leader in the fight against prejudice toward lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender individuals.In addition, they gave her 11 acres of sports complex land and christened it the Billie Jean King Sports Complex in her honour. Later, in 2006, the Women’s Sports Foundation gave and established an honour in her honour known as the Billie Awards.
Below are some of her other achievements to date.
- 1967 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year
- 1990 Life magazine’s list of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century”
- Arthur Ashe Award for Courage (1999)
- 2003 International Tennis Federation (ITF) Philippe Chatrier Award
- Office of the Borough President of Manhattan (honorary award in 2008)
- President Barack Obama presented the 2009 recipient with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Impact 25 on ESPNW (2014)
- The 8 Best Sports Moments for Women, according to Marie Claire
- Lifetime Achievement Award for BBC Sports Personality of the Year (2018)
Do you know how much Billie Jean King owns?
Billie Jean King currently displays a magnificent net worth of $22 million. She did, however, receive US$1,966,487 in prize money from the competitions.
Billie became the first female athlete to win a reward worth more than $100,000 even in this situation. The prize money for the championships was different back then for men and women.
Billie had won $15,000 less than the winner of the men’s competition, Ilie Năstase. She did, in fact, speak out in favour of every woman to secure parity for the sexes.
Later, the U.S. Open was the first competition to implement equality.
Endorsements of brands
She receives a portion of her income from brand endorsements, like every player. She initially had a sponsorship arrangement with Head in 1970 for their athletic apparel.
And She has provided endorsements for various companies along the way, including Addidas and Glamour. She currently has a $1 million deal with Glamour.
Early in the 1980s, Billie Jean lost brand endorsement arrangements for about $2 million.She was at that time embroiled in the litigation that her secretary, Marilyn Barnett, had brought. She had actually started getting close to her.
Later, after a misunderstanding, Barnett sued King, who denied being involved.
She divorced her spouse, Larry King, after many years of hiding her gay orientation. Ilana Kloss, with whom she later falls in love, is now by her side.
TV shows, movies, and books
Billie Jean King enjoys popular culture as well. She appeared as a judge in the 2007 episode of Law & Order, in Ugly Betty in 2009, and in Fresh Off The Boat in 2016.
She has additionally starred in The L Word (2006) and The Odd Couple (1973), while her most recent appearance was in The Bold Type (2020).
Her time during the Battle of the Sexes was also the subject of a movie.
Actress Emma Stone is shown wearing the Ted Tinling-designed outfit in Billie’s portion of the movie as an example. In addition, she has served as inspiration for numerous song lyrics.
“Philadelphia Freedom,” a song by Elton John for Billie, was published in 1975 and peaked at number one on the charts. King is also mentioned in the Le Tigre song “Hot Topic” around the same time.
Billie wrote the Battle of the Sexes in 2008 after publishing Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned from Life, keeping everything in mind.
Group leaders
In 1999, Billie Jean was also chosen to serve on Philip Morris Incorporated’s board of directors. She currently owns the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team along with her partner Kloss.
They also own the Los Angeles Sparks WNBA basketball franchise in the meantime. They’ve also asserted a stake in Angel City FC, which will launch the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022.
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Life | Billie Jean King
King does live a joyful and opulent life because to his enormous net wealth. Having said that, she does experience some of her own issues. For instance, she underwent double knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis.
Jean does, however, have a somewhat healthy lifestyle and only practises veganism. Additionally, she works out five days a week at the barest minimum. She does ride a bike, lift weights, and walk a lot.
As she makes her way to her restaurants, she chooses vitamins and calories while keeping a couple of her carbs.
Billie Jean also owns a beach property in Malibu that she paid $500,000 for in 1981. She reportedly also constructed an ocean house in 1972 on Kauai’s subtropical North Shore.
NGOs and Foundations
Billie has frequently taken a stand for the right thing as an advocate. King founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, not to mention. The Billie Jean King Main Library is another institution that bears her name.
The “Inspiring Women Series” of Barbie dolls from Mattel also include Billie as a partner.
Barbie dolls costumed as Billie in her 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match versus Bobby Riggs were used to start the scene as an example.She has previously funded a number of other organisations, including as the GLAAD, CityParks Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation, and Food Bank for New York City.
She was also active with the Starkey Hearing Foundation, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, and the Women’s Sports Foundation.
In a same vein, her charity collaborated with ESPN to establish the Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award. The prize included $10,000 in academic grants for the winners.
Later, she added herself as a coworker of One Sight and Pearle Vision. They provided eye exams and glasses while working at Girls Prep Lower East Side Elementary.
Along with the LA Dodgers Foundation, Billie had also contributed over 5,000 copies of “I am Billie Jean King.”
Instagram presence
You may view more of her information online and upload it via her social media accounts. She has 92.8k followers on Instagram under the name Billie Jean King (@billiejeanking).
Additionally, he has 522.8k followers on Twitter under the name Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing).