Billie Jean King

Quick Facts

• Daughter of Bill and Betty Moffitt
• Brother, Randy, was a major league pitcher for 12 seasons primarily with the San Francisco Giants
• Father, Bill, played college basketball at Long Beach City College
• 39 Grand Slam titles across all three disciplines (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) 
• The United States Tennis Association honored Billie Jean when they renamed the National Tennis Center, home of the US Open, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006
• Led the U.S. to 10 wins in the Fed Cup, as a player and non-playing captain
• In 2020, the competition was renamed in her honor as she also took a business stake in the event  
• In 2014, Billie Jean King led a U.S. delegation of openly gay athletes appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama to the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 in response to anti-LGBTQ+ Russian laws 
• In 2022, King was inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame as a special contributor

Biographical Information

Billie Jean King (née Moffitt) was born in Long Beach, California, as part of an athletic family. Her dad, Bill, played college basketball, and her brother, Randy, would go on to become a major league pitcher for 12 seasons. At age 11, King bought her first tennis racquet with money saved from odd jobs and took free lessons near her home in Long Beach. It wasn't long before she told her mother, Betty, "I am going to be No.1 in the world."

In 1966, King won her first Wimbledon singles title and in 1973 accomplished a rare triple crown at the All England Club, winning the singles, doubles and mixed doubles tournaments all in the same year. King finished her tennis career with 39 Grand Slam titles across all three disciplines (singles, doubles and mixed doubles) in addition to winning the career Grand Slam with a singles title at all four major championships.

Off the court, King is recognized  for her struggle for gender equality.  She spearheaded the founding of the WTA and, with lobbying from King, the US Open became the first Grand Slam in 1973 to award equal prize money to both men and women. Thirty-four years later, all four Grand Slams would follow suit. 

On Sept. 20, 1973, King famously defeated former men’s champion Bobby Riggs in straight sets in a match dubbed "The Battle of the Sexes”. Later that year, King was named Sports Illustrated's ‘Sportsperson of the Year’, the first woman to be honored as such. 

King created the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1974 to provide opportunities for female participation in sport. King, alongside her wife, Illan Kloss, has become a pioneering investor focusing on women’s sports, equality and sports technology. Her portfolio has grown to include ownership stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers, LA Sparks, Angel City FC and the PWHL.

In 2009, Billie Jean King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.