Year born: 1981
Serena Williams is regarded as the most dominant women's tennis player ever, Business Insider's Alan Dawson wrote. She is a 23-time Grand Slam champion and has earned over $88 million in career prize money. She won her last Grand Slam at the Australian Open in 2017 — while she was pregnant.
After a 14-month maternity leave, Williams returned to the court in 2018, when she reached the finals of both Wimbledon and the US Open. According to ESPN writer Alyssa Roenigk, the year may have been Williams' most impactful one yet — not because of her game, but because she finally opened up to the public, specifically about her struggles as a mom.
Williams also has a clothing line with HSN and runs the Serena Williams Fund, which builds schools in Kenya and Jamaica to provide education to underprivileged youth.