Coco Gauff announced a major move that she says will allow her to “take greater ownership” of her career. The 21-year-old American tennis star—and the world’s highest-paid female athlete, according to Forbes—revealed on social media she’s joining WME to start Coco Gauff Enterprises, “a venture that reflects my passion for making an impact—not just in tennis, but in business, philanthropy and beyond.”
Gauff, with $34.4 million in earnings in 2024, had been represented by Alessandro Barel Di Sant Albano of Team 8, owned by Roger Federer and Tony Godsick, for the length of her professional career. In her post she says the new step forward means closing the chapter with Team 8. “I’ll always be grateful for everything they’ve done for me and my family,” she wrote.
Gauff says joining WME to launch Coco Gauff Enterprises allows her to bring her purpose beyond the court. “I’m excited to build something that allows me to take greater ownership of my career while also creating opportunities that extend beyond myself as I continue to grow as an athlete, entrepreneur and changemaker,” she says.
Already known for her sponsorship deals with New Balance, where she has the sport’s only signature shoe for an active player and signed a long-term extension in 2022, racket maker Head and Rolex, Gauff added to her business portfolio in 2024 with new deals with Carol’s Daughter, Fanatics and Naked Juice. Gauff has roughly a dozen regular partners.
A Florida resident, Gauff turned pro in 2018 at the age of 14. At the age of 15 in 2019 she captivated tennis fans by advancing to the fourth round of Wimbledon. Major breakthroughs occurred first in 2022 when she made the championship match for both singles and doubles at Roland Garros. In 2023, at age 19, Gauff won the U.S. Open singles title. She has since added a 2024 Roland Garros doubles title. Gauff is currently ranked No. 3 in the world in singles.
In 2024, after signing her Naked Juice deal, Gauff told me she was starting to get more involved in her business decisions. Early in her career her dad limited her involvement, and she didn’t have much interest anyway. “I am definitely more involved when it comes to making decisions and working with brands,” she said at the time.
“I think for me, I have learned a lot about contracts in general and the wording in them,” Gauff says about getting more in tune with her business endeavors. “My dad loves to teach me about that and how you have to be very literal. Everything has to be in writing. I am just learning about the legal side of it all.”
She’s also learning about long-term value. Gauff says her goal is to maximize partnerships, striving to gain equity in brands so it doesn’t feel like a transaction and instead something that she can invest in and stay in for any future children or grandchildren. “I am trying to maximize as much as possible when doing partnerships like this,” she says.
But the tennis still comes first, something she said in 2024 and reiterated in her post announcing Coco Gauff Enterprises. “Tennis is the number-one priority, and it is crucial to work with brands who recognize that and work with that,” she says. “They know tennis is what I love and what I do and everything else is an added plus. Tennis is my DNA, so there have been times things haven’t worked out [with a brand] because I couldn’t guarantee the amount of time they wanted.”
For WME, the addition of Gauff comes at a time of movement for the company. Silver Lake recently closed on the purchase of Endeavor Group and moves portions of that business under the WME Group umbrella. WME already represents tennis stars such as Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Serena Williams.
With the announcement, Gauff has signaled a new direction. “This is just the beginning of an exciting new era for me,” she writes, “and there is much more to come, which I’ll be excited to share in due time.”
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