Masters of Scale Maria Sharapova’s centre court tricks for the boardroom
38 snips
Apr 28, 2026 
Maria Sharapova, five-time Grand Slam champion turned investor and entrepreneur, talks about her leap from tennis to business. She gets candid about early Nike negotiations, building and shutting down Sugarpova, serving on Moncler’s board, and why saying no matters. There’s also a fun look at fashion as competitive armor and how rivalry can evolve into sharing deal flow.
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Why Athletes Need A Second Act Mindset Early
- Elite sport forced Maria Sharapova to think about career endings early, which made her treat business meetings as long-term preparation.
- She knew tennis might end by 35 through injury, family, or burnout, so she learned by sitting in boardrooms and asking naive questions.
What Felt Intense About Joining Monclers Board
- Joining Moncler's board gave Maria Sharapova a new kind of pressure because she had to prove herself in unfamiliar territory.
- She describes Italian-language meetings like a UN session and learned by listening to succession and seasonality debates with Remo Ruffini.
Sugarpova Became Her Startup MBA
- Building Sugarpova taught Maria Sharapova operating basics she never learned as an athlete and became her startup MBA.
- She spent over a decade figuring out P&Ls, premium pricing, distribution, and how to scale a $5 product without losing quality.