Maria Sharapova, the Russian tennis ace, retired in the year 2020. After a ban from the tour for using Meldonium and staying out of the circuit because of the pandemic, she decided to hang her racket. The five-time Grand Slam champion is currently focusing on her newborn and diverting her energy toward expanding her businesses.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Recently, the multi-million dollar company, Sugarpova’s owner, joined some celebrities and made an investment in an up-and-coming crypto company named MoonPay.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Maria Sharapova invests in a new startup

The cryptocurrency payments company has garnered a huge sum of 87 million dollars in recent fundraisers lead by numerous investors. Alongside Sharapova, Canadian singer Justin Bieber, rapper Snoop Dogg and Hollywood actor Bruce Willis have provided financial backing to MoonPay.

Maria Sharapova speaks onstage at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit 2018 at Ritz Carlton Hotel on October 2, 2018 in Laguna Niguel, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Fortune)

Further, the company has vowed to employ the funds to double down on its NFT efforts. Also, it aims to act as a channel for interaction between fans and artists.

DIVE DEEPER

‘Throwing Myself Out There’- Maria Sharapova Narrates How Harvard Classmates Were Intimidated by Her Presence

20 days ago

Speaking of MoonPay’s reach, it often stands as a middleman for celebrity deals and recently they collaborated with MyEtherWallet. In addition, this January they purchased a Zombie themed CryptoPunk for 900 ETH worth approximately 3 million dollars at that time. Therefore, one can make a safe bet on the organization’s future.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Sharapova’s impressive numbers in her tennis career

The Russian star, after leaving her home country at a very young age and facing several hardships, including financial issues, debuted on the WTA tour in 2001. In just four years, she climbed to the ranking of World no.1. Sharapova rose to the top of the WTA rankings in 2005, following her first Grand Slam victory at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships.

She outclassed the 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the final to clinch the title. Thereafter, she secured one US Open and Australian Open titles, and two French Open titles to her name.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Watch this story: How big is Maria Sharapova business legacy in comparison to Elon Musk

The 35-year-old represented Russia and brought a silver medal from the Olympics before retiring from the sport. Coming to her present life, she welcomed her first born Theodore this July with fiancé Alexander Gilkes. Sharapova and Gilkes made their relationship public in 2018 and got engaged in December 2020.