Pound Crash Due to Brexit Costs Serena Williams $262,600
Tennis champion Serena Williams is one among those who have lost money in wake of last month’s Brexit vote.
Williams beat Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in Saturday’s Wimbledon final, her 22nd major title, tied with Steffi Graf for most in the Open Era. The winner’s prize is worth $2.59 million when converted to U.S. dollars, about $380,000 less than it was worth a few days before the tournament, on the eve of the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union.
Last July, the pound was worth $1.5516, giving Serena a prize of $2,929,500 for her 21st Major title. But today’s value of the pound at $1.30 means she will only walk home with $2,597,400.
So what should have been a massive 5% raise turned out to be a $332,100 pay cut–around 11% less than last year.
If she was so willing, Williams could keep her winnings in pounds and hope for a recovery to recoup some of her winnings. Had she played before the Brexit vote, a month before when the pound was worth $1.43–she would have come away with $2,860,000–$262,600 more than what she got. Depending on how much earlier she played, the difference could have been as much as $380,000. If the pound rebounds to its pre-Brexit value, she will still be down from last year, but not by quite as much.
At the end of the day, what is the difference really between $2.6 and $2.9 million? Maybe very little, or maybe one of these.
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Reference: Independent
