Founder of Billie Jean King Enterprises
One detail you may not know about tennis icon Billie Jean King: She's long been a savvy businessperson.
Before she made history more than 50 years ago for trouncing former men's tennis champion Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes, King coowned several tennis tournaments. She was then in her 20s, and her portfolio included the Oakland Pro Championships and the Billie Jean King Invitational, which was part of the all-women Virginia Slims series.
A year earlier, in 1972, King refused to play in the next year's U.S. Open unless all the women playing got paid the same as the men. However, she didn't just protest; she actively worked behind the scenes to secure a
