Sixth seed and home favourite Jessica Pegula marched into her maiden Grand Slam final on Friday (September 6, 2024), rallying strongly to beat Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the US Open 2024 semi-finals. Jessica will take on world number two Aryna Sabalenka in the title round. (Full Coverage | More Tennis News)
All through Jessica's superb run at Flushing Meadows in this edition, conversations around her billionaire father Terry Pegula have pervaded the internet as well as the offline world. Jessica has even gone on record about how they affect her, telling Agence France Presse that it's "annoying" when assumptions are made about her based on father's business success.
"I did some media thing the other day. They were, like, What's the most annoying thing?" she told AFP. "It's that people think I have a butler, that I get chauffeured around. I have a private limo, that I fly private everywhere. I'm definitely not like that."
She added that "it's kind of funny because I don't really even know anyone that lives like that. It's outrageous."
Sources Of Terry Pegula's Wealth
So what does Jessica's father really do? Well, Terry Pegula is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League and, along with his wife Kim Pegula, also owns Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He is the president of both franchises too.
Pegula senior made his fortune in oil and gas as the founder of East Resources. In 2010, he sold off most of the company's assets to Royal Dutch Shell for 4.7 billion US dollars, according to a Forbes report. He now orchestrates a sports empire, which includes ownership of the Bills and the Sabres.
As per Forbes, Terry Pegula's net worth is 7.7 billion US dollars.
Sources Of Ben Navarro's Wealth
Jessica's compatriot Emma Navarro had a creditable US Open campaign, making waves before losing her semi-final against Sabalenka in straight sets.
Just like Terry Pegula, Navarro's father Ben too has a thriving business empire. Emma's dad is the founder and CEO of Sherman Financial Group. He's worth an estimated 1.5 billion US dollars, according to Forbes.
The financial services company buys and services consumer debt that originates from financial institutions, credit card companies and retailers. Navarro is also the owner of the Charleston Open, a WTA Tour event.
Perhaps the most intriguing stat to emerge from this discourse was one reported by BBC, which goes: the Pegula and Navarro families' collective wealth is greater than that of the Maldives, as per some estimates.
