Richard Liu and Serena Williams are not known to be related, married, business partners, or professional collaborators. In the context of this search phrase, “Richard Liu” most plausibly refers to Richard Qiangdong Liu, the founder and chairman of JD.com, while Serena Williams is the American tennis champion and investor. Authoritative public sources do not document a direct relationship between them.
The most likely source of confusion is much simpler: Serena Williams’ father is Richard Williams, not Richard Liu. Richard Williams was also one of Serena and Venus Williams’ formative tennis coaches, making his name inseparable from their early careers.
Richard Liu and Serena Williams: the verified answer
A review of authoritative company records, tennis organizations, Serena Williams’ investment firm, and reputable news coverage reveals no established family, romantic, business, investment, or sporting relationship between Richard Qiangdong Liu and Serena Williams. JD.com identifies Liu as its founder and chairman, while Serena Ventures identifies Williams as its managing partner; neither organization identifies the other person as a partner, executive, investor, or collaborator.
That distinction matters because a search query containing two famous names does not by itself establish a real-world connection. It is possible that two public figures have met privately or appeared at an event without creating a searchable public record, so it would be too absolute to say they have never encountered one another. What can be said confidently is that there is no credible, well-documented public relationship between Richard Liu and Serena Williams in the authoritative sources examined.
| Detail | Richard Qiangdong Liu | Serena Williams |
|---|---|---|
| Best known for | Founder and chairman of JD.com | Tennis champion and entrepreneur |
| Main field | E-commerce, retail, logistics and technology | Professional tennis and venture investing |
| Major organization | JD.com | WTA, Serena Ventures |
| Current business role | Founder and chairman of JD.com | Managing partner at Serena Ventures |
| Documented relationship to Serena Williams | None established | Not applicable |
| Person often confused with him | Richard Williams | Richard Williams is Serena’s father |
JD.com continues to list Liu as founder and chairman, and its June 2026 corporate documentation still identified him as chairman of the board. Serena Ventures, meanwhile, lists Serena Williams as managing partner.
Who is Richard Liu?
Richard Qiangdong Liu, also known as Liu Qiangdong, is the entrepreneur who built JD.com into one of China’s major retail and technology businesses. JD.com says he has served as chairman since the company’s inception and served as chief executive officer until April 2022.
The company’s 2025 annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission gives a more precise account of JD.com’s corporate development. According to that filing, Liu launched an online retail website in January 2004 and subsequently established businesses in Beijing and Shanghai to operate it. JD.com later developed an extensive fulfillment network and expanded beyond direct online retail into a marketplace, logistics, marketing, and other supply-chain services.
Today, Liu is no longer JD.com’s CEO. Sandy Ran Xu has served as chief executive officer and executive director since May 2023, while Liu remains chairman. JD.com also identifies him as chairman of Jingdong Technology Holding and as chairman and non-executive director of both JD Health and JD Logistics.
His continuing influence is substantial. In May 2026, JD.com announced that the boards of JD Health, JD Logistics, JD Industrials, and JD Property had approved restricted-share-unit grants to Liu representing approximately 2% of the issued share capital of each subsidiary at the time of grant, subject to applicable requirements. JD.com said the awards were intended to motivate him to continue leading the future development of those businesses.
The scale of the company provides useful context. JD.com reported RMB 1.309 trillion, approximately US$187.2 billion, in net revenue for 2025, an increase of 13% over 2024. That figure belongs to JD.com rather than to Liu personally and should not be confused with his individual wealth or income.
Liu’s official JD.com biography says he earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Renmin University of China in 1996 and an EMBA from China Europe International Business School in 2011. His public career, in other words, is overwhelmingly associated with Chinese commerce, logistics, technology, and corporate leadership, not professional tennis.
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Who is Serena Williams?
Serena Williams is one of the most accomplished players in tennis history. The Women’s Tennis Association credits her with 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 73 singles titles, and 319 weeks as world No. 1. Her 23 major singles championships are the most won by a woman in the Open Era.
Her Grand Slam singles record includes seven Australian Open championships, three French Open titles, seven Wimbledon championships, and six US Open titles. She also won four Olympic gold medals: singles gold at London 2012 plus three women’s doubles gold medals alongside her sister Venus Williams in 2000, 2008, and 2012. Serena and Venus won 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles together.
Williams stepped away from professional competition after the 2022 US Open, describing the transition at the time as an evolution away from tennis rather than simply using the word retirement. That absence lasted nearly four years.
Her 2026 return to tennis
In one of the biggest developments in her recent career, Williams returned to professional competition in June 2026, initially accepting a doubles wild card at the Queen’s Club WTA event in London. She partnered Canadian player Victoria Mboko and won her first match back on June 9, nearly four years after her previous competitive appearance.
Williams then accepted a singles wild card at Wimbledon. Her first singles match since 2022 ended in a three-set first-round loss to Maya Joint, 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3.
Her comeback continued during the North American season. At the 2026 US Open, she partnered Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles before losing with him to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli. She later reunited with Venus Williams in the women’s doubles competition. The sisters were beaten in a three-hour first-round match by Maya Joint and Chan Hao-Ching on September 4, 2026.
As of early October 2026, that makes it inaccurate to describe Serena simply as someone who permanently retired in 2022. She returned to professional tennis in 2026, although her schedule has been selective rather than a conventional full-time tour campaign. Her WTA profile records 2026 competitive activity and a current doubles ranking.
Serena Williams as an investor
Williams also has a substantial business career outside tennis. Serena Ventures currently lists her as managing partner, and the firm describes itself as an early-stage investor backing founders across technology and other growth businesses.
Its published portfolio includes companies operating in financial technology, healthcare, artificial intelligence, consumer products, e-commerce infrastructure, education, and other sectors. Serena Ventures’ current portfolio page includes businesses such as Esusu, Midi Health, Ours Privacy, Luminous, Calico, and SoLo Funds.
This business activity creates one superficial similarity between Williams and Liu: both are associated with technology-enabled companies and investment or entrepreneurship. That broad overlap should not be mistaken for evidence that they work together. The official Serena Ventures portfolio and team pages do not identify Richard Liu or JD.com as part of a joint venture with Williams, while JD.com’s official leadership information does not identify Williams as a business associate of Liu.
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The Richard Williams name mix-up
The clearest explanation for searches involving Richard Liu and Serena Williams is a possible confusion between Richard Liu and Richard Williams.
Richard Williams is Serena Williams’ father. The U.S. Tennis Association describes him as the father and former coach of Serena and Venus Williams and notes that he began coaching the sisters on public courts in Los Angeles when they were children. The WTA similarly identifies him as their father and former coach.
The distinction is straightforward:
Richard Williams
Serena Williams’ father and former coach. He was deeply involved in the tennis development of both Serena and Venus.
Richard Qiangdong Liu
Chinese entrepreneur, founder and chairman of JD.com. His documented career is centered on e-commerce, technology, retail, and logistics.
They are entirely different people.
Serena Jameka Williams was born on September 26, 1981, in Saginaw, Michigan, to Richard Williams and Oracene Price. The National Women’s History Museum records that Richard and Oracene taught themselves tennis partly through books and videos so that they could coach their children. The family later lived in Compton, California, where Serena and Venus trained extensively.
Richard Williams’ influence on the sisters is well established in tennis history. The USTA says the family moved to Florida in 1991 so Serena and Venus could train at Rick Macci’s tennis academy; Richard later resumed direct coaching responsibilities. His achievements as their coach led to induction into the American Tennis Association Hall of Fame and the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017.
That documented father-daughter relationship contrasts sharply with the absence of any comparable record connecting Serena Williams to Richard Liu.
Is there any professional or business connection?
There is no verified major professional partnership between Richard Liu and Serena Williams in the available authoritative public record. Their careers do have broad thematic similarities, but those similarities are not evidence of a direct relationship.
Liu’s business interests are tied mainly to JD.com and its related retail, logistics, health, technology, and supply-chain businesses. JD.com describes itself as a supply-chain-based technology and service provider whose operations include direct online retail, a third-party marketplace, logistics, marketing, and related services.
Williams’ business activity is centered on Serena Ventures and other entrepreneurial interests. Serena Ventures positions itself as an early-stage investment firm and publishes a portfolio covering companies in sectors such as fintech, health technology, consumer services, artificial intelligence, and commerce.
So there is a legitimate basis for comparing the two as successful figures who expanded their influence through business. Liu built his public reputation primarily as a founder and corporate leader; Williams first became globally famous through sport and later developed a significant investment career. But a comparison is not a connection.
There is also no credible basis for describing Richard Liu as Serena Williams’ father, husband, coach, manager, or business partner. Serena’s father is Richard Williams, and the WTA identifies her husband as Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian; the couple have two daughters, Olympia and Adira.
This is an important fact-checking point for search results. Newly published web pages can repeat a keyword combination simply because people are searching for it. Repetition across websites does not independently verify a relationship. For this subject, primary and authoritative sources support the identities and careers of both people but do not establish a Richard Liu–Serena Williams relationship.
Frequently asked questions
Are Richard Liu and Serena Williams related?
No credible public source establishes a family relationship between Richard Qiangdong Liu and Serena Williams. Liu is the founder and chairman of JD.com, while Serena’s father is Richard Williams.
Is Richard Liu Serena Williams’ father?
No. Richard Williams is Serena Williams’ father and former coach. Richard Liu is a Chinese entrepreneur associated with JD.com.
Are Richard Liu and Serena Williams married or romantically linked?
There is no credible public evidence of a romantic relationship between them. The WTA identifies Serena Williams’ husband as Alexis Ohanian, the Reddit co-founder, with whom she has two daughters.
Have Richard Liu and Serena Williams worked together?
No substantial or verified joint business venture, investment, sporting project, or professional collaboration appears in the authoritative sources reviewed. JD.com identifies Liu with its corporate businesses, while Serena Ventures identifies Williams as its managing partner and publishes its own investment portfolio.
Who is the Richard connected to Serena Williams?
The Richard most closely connected to Serena Williams is Richard Williams, her father and former coach. He helped train Serena and her sister Venus from childhood and was inducted into the American Tennis Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
Is Serena Williams still playing tennis in 2026?
Yes, although on a selective schedule. After almost four years away from professional competition, Williams returned at Queen’s Club in June 2026, played singles at Wimbledon, and later competed at the US Open in mixed doubles and women’s doubles. Her September 4 US Open appearance with Venus Williams was their first women’s doubles match at the tournament since 2022.
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