Maria Sharapova’s second act is all business

The tennis great talks Nike negotiations, boardroom pressures, the end of Sugarpova, and why today’s female athletes need to watch out for sharks.

[Photo: Matt Crossick/WWD via Getty Images]

Five Grand Slam titles and more than a decade as the world’s highest-paid female athlete. But the fiercest competition Maria Sharapova describes may be the one she’s navigating now. In her second act as an investor, entrepreneur, and podcaster, she discusses what the court never prepared her for: the deals she walked away from, the candy brand she built and ultimately shuttered, and what it really takes to sit across the negotiating table from Nike.

This is an abridged transcript of an interview from Rapid Response, hosted by former Fast Company editor-in-chief Robert Safian. From the team........

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