THE heiress to a billionaire’s fortune, tennis sensation Jessica Pegula needn’t work for a living.
But the American star, 28, has reached the Australian Open quarters for two years running and is in the Madrid Open final.
So far she’s earned an impressive £2.9million in prize money – and that looks set to pass the £3m mark after her maiden WTA 1000 final in Spain – but that’s just a drop in the ocean to what she stands to inherit.
Because she’s the pretty daughter of Terry Pegula, the world’s 434th richest person who made a £3.6billion fortune from natural gas development.
The self-made businessman owns NFL giants Buffalo Bills – who he bought in 2014 after outbidding Donald Trump and Bon Jovi, and various other sport franchises.
And if that’s not enough, Jessica could also take her dad’s £14m superyacht for a spin in her downtime.
Astonishingly, she is richer than the worth of Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova COMBINED.
I NEED TO BE MYSELF
It would’ve been easy for Jessica to retire from the game in the last few years.
Plagued by persistent hip and knee injures, she truly considered it – 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 one step further to get to the Miami semis before making the final in Madrid where she faced Ons Jabeur, beating Bianca Andreescu on the way.
And you wouldn’t bank against her adding plenty more titles to her 2019 Washington Open win or going better than her career-high world No13 ranking.
Jessica’s biggest determination is to make a name for herself, and not just be Terry Pegula’s daughter.
Pegula grew up in one of the richest families in America
However, Pegula was aware that she wanted to make a name for herself outside her family name
Pegula, who counts deep-sea diving as a passion, doesn’t need to play professional sport and is already accustomed to the high-life
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 realised as I got older, I should embrace the whole family aspect of it instead.
“It was almost hurting me in a way because it wasn’t going to go away and I learned to embrace that, kind of have fun with it.
“Tennis is my thing, it’s my job, it’s my career. It’s very separate and my parents don’t really have any say right now in anything I do on the court.”
HER DAD’S IN SPORT
Terry Pegula first worked at a petroleum engineer for Getty Oil, before setting up his own company called East Resources in 1983 with a £5,400 loan from his family.
He began by searching and drilling for oil, and later moved into natural gas.
In 2010, he sold assets to 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.
By that time, his sports group – Pegula Sports and Entertainment – was in business, with Terry’s wife Kim installed as CEO and president.
World No14 Pegula enjoyed two remarkable runs to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open
She lost to champion Ash Barty in the last eight in 2022
Terry Pegula beat off bids from Donald Trump and Bon Jovi to buy NFL giants Buffalo Bills in 2014
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 buying NFL giants the Buffalo Bills for around £1bn.
PSE have also owned NHL franchise Buffalo Sabres since 2011, after paying £135m for the hockey team.
YACHT LIFE
Aside from their sporting interests, not much is known about how the Pegula family, who keep their lives very private.
They live in a £2.5m gated five-bedroom mansion in Boca Raton, Florida.
Terry’s also big on charity. He donated £73m for the building of Pegula Ice Arena at Penn State University.
Terry Pegula, pictured with a young Jessica, lives a private life
The Pegula family have their own yacht called Top Five worth around £14m
Pegula enjoys living the yacht life
And he gave Houghton College in New York £9m to fund the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex.
However, perhaps his most extravagant purchase was his stunning £14m superyacht called ‘Top Five’.
Built by Christensen Shipyards in 2005, there’s room on board for 12 guests in its six cabins.
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Although reports suggested Pegula was looking to sell it and is currently building a new, bigger yacht to replace it.
Perhaps it would make a nice hand-me-down for Jessica, should he fail to attract any buyers?
