The heiress to a billionaire fortune, tennis sensation Jessica Pegula doesn’t need to work to make a living.
But the American star, 28, has reached the quarters of the Australian Open for two consecutive years and is in the final of the Madrid Open.
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So far she’s won an impressive £2.9million – and that’s set to top the £3million mark after her maiden WTA 1000 Final in Spain – but that’s only a drop. water in the ocean compared to what she will inherit.
Because she’s the lovely daughter of Terry Pegula, the 434th richest person in the world who made a fortune of £3.6 billion from the development of natural gas.
The self-made businessman owns NFL giants Buffalo Bills – which he bought in 2014 after outbidding Donald Trump and Bon Jovi, and various other sports franchises.
And if that wasn’t enough, Jessica could also take her dad’s £14million superyacht for a spin in her spare time.
Surprisingly, she is richer than the value of Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova COMBINED.
I NEED TO BE ME
It would have been easy for Jessica to retire from acting in recent years.
Plagued by lingering hip and knee injuries, she really gave it some thought – before defying the odds with her runs Down Under and resurgence on the WTA Tour.
Pegula lost to eventual champion Ash Barty in Melbourne then went further to advance to the semi-finals in Miami before advancing to the final in Madrid where she faced Ons Jabeur, beating Bianca Andreescu in the process of road.
And you wouldn’t bet against her adding many more titles to her 2019 Washington Open win or going better than her career-high world No. 13 ranking.
Jessica’s greatest determination is to make a name for herself, and not just to be Terry Pegula’s daughter.
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The star – who also launched skincare brand Ready24 – told Wide World of Sport: “When I was younger it was more like I wanted to make a name for myself and then I realized that as I got older, I had to embrace the whole family aspect of it instead.
“It almost hurt me in a way because it wasn’t going to go away and I learned to accept that, to have fun with it.
“Tennis is my thing, it’s my job, it’s my career. It’s very different and my parents don’t really have a say at the moment on everything I do on the tennis court. ground.”
HIS FATHER IS IN SPORT
Terry Pegula first worked as an oil engineer for Getty Oil, before setting up his own company called East Resources in 1983 with a £5,400 loan from his family.
He started by looking for and drilling oil, then turned to natural gas.
In 2010 it sold assets at East Resources to Royal Dutch Shell for a staggering £3.4bn, and four years later the remaining assets were sold for £1.2bn to American Energy Partners, LP.
At this time, his sports group – Pegula Sports and Entertainment – was in business, with Terry’s wife, Kim, installed as CEO and President.
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Their biggest coup came in 2014 when they managed to beat rival bids from former US President Donald Trump and rock star Bon Jovi to buy NFL giants Buffalo Bills for around £1 billion.
PSE has also owned the NHL Buffalo Sabers franchise since 2011, having paid £135million for the hockey team.
YACHT LIFE
Aside from their sporting interests, not much is known about how the Pegula family, who keeps their lives very private.
They live in a £2.5million five-bedroom mansion in Boca Raton, Florida.
Terry also loves charity. He donated £73m towards the construction of the Pegula Ice Arena at Penn State University.
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And he gave £9m to Houghton College in New York to fund the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex.
However, perhaps his most extravagant purchase was his stunning £14million superyacht called ‘Top Five’.
Built by Christensen Shipyards in 2005, there is room on board for 12 guests in her six cabins.
Although reports suggest that Pegula was looking to sell her and is currently building a new larger yacht to replace her.
Maybe it would make a nice heirloom for Jessica, if he failed to attract buyers?