Who Are Jessica Pegula’s Parents? All About the Tennis Star’s Billionaire Family
Jessica Pegula is making a run for the women’s singles title at the 2026 US Open. As the No. 3 seed in the tournament, she’ll be taking on No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka during the Semifinals on September 10.
From the very start of her tennis career when she was just a young girl, Jessica has had the support of her parents. In fact, the family moved from Buffalo, New York, to Pennsylvania, then South Carolina, so Jessica could pursue a professional tennis career.
Now, she’s seeking her first Grand Slam tournament win after missing the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. Scroll down to learn more about Jessica’s parents and their athletic connections.
Who are Jessica Pegula’s parents?
Jessica’s parents are Terry and Kim Pegula. Terry is a self-made billionaire who founded his company, East Resources Inc, a natural oil and gas production company, in 1983. In 2010, he sold the majority of his company for $4.7 billion to Royal Dutch Shell. He sold the remainder of the company to American Energy Partners for $1.75 billion in 2014.
In 2011, Terry and Kim purchased the Buffalo Sabres, an NHL ice hockey team. They started the Pegula Sports and Entertainment company in 2012 to manage their sports and entertainment assets, which later included the Buffalo Bills and two National Lacrosse League teams. The company, which dissolved in 2023, also owned Black River Entertainment, a music label that signed various country artists, including as Kelsea Ballerini.
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Since dissolving Pegula Sports and Entertainment, Terry has remained president and co-owner of the Bills and Sabres.
How did Terry and Kim Pegula meet?
Terry and Kim met in 1991 after her graduation from Houghton College. At the time, she and a friend were planning a trip to Alaska to work at a fishing camp before she began pursuing her career in broadcast journalism.
Kim needed to raise funds for the trip, so she began looking for a waitressing job. She was filling out an application at a restaurant near her parents’ lake cabin and started talking to Terry, who was dining at the establishment.
He was 18 years her senior and gave her his business card and “the rest is history,” Kim told NFL.com. The two tied the knot in 1993.
What happened to Jessica Pegula’s mom?
In June 2022, Kim suffered a health scare that has had a lasting effect. She went into cardiac arrest in the middle of the night and was “unresponsive,” Jessica revealed in an essay for The Player’s Tribune.
Kim was rushed to the hospital and next came a waiting game of how her health would be when she woke up. “She was aware, talking a little, but a long way from her normal self,” Jessica shared. “After a long two weeks, she was in a good set-up to start her recovery which we knew would take a very, very long time.”
At the time of Jessica’s February 2023 essay, Kim was still in recovery, although she was “improving” day by day. “She is dealing with significant expressive aphasia and significant memory issues,” Jessica admitted. “She can read, write, and understand pretty well, but she has trouble finding the words to respond.”
It’s now been more than four years since Jessica’s cardiac arrest episode and she is still not fully recovered. She made her first post-illness public appearance at a Buffalo Bills training camp in 2023, then showed up again in 2024. After more than two years out of the public eye, Kim popped up at the Bills’ new stadium in August 2026, even standing on her own as she posed alongside her husband for photos.
Where do Jessica Pegula’s parents live?
The Pegulas’ main residence is in Boca Raton, Florida, which is where they spend most of their time. However, they also still have places in New York so they have somewhere to stay when they want to attend home games for their sports teams.
“One of the big discussion points we always have is, ‘Where are we gonna be, in Florida or New York, this week?'” Terry revealed in 2022.
Per Realtor.com, Terry and Kim’s Florida estate is a 12-acre property called Camelot Farms, which includes a horse stable with eight stalls.
Does Jessica Pegula have siblings?
Yes, Jessica has four siblings. Terry welcomed his first two children, Michael and Laura, during a previous marriage, while he and Kim share another daughter, Kelly, and a son, Matthew.
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When Jessica was born in 1994, Michael was already 17 and Laura was 12. In an interview with Elle, Jessica credited her older half-sister, a former University of Pittsburgh athlete, with introducing her to tennis. “My older sister, Laura, played Division I tennis, so I was always around it and followed in her footsteps,” she explained.
For the most part, Matthew and Michael stay out of the public eye. Michael is a personal trainer and hockey coach. Laura, meanwhile, was named part of the Buffalo Bills ownership structure following Kim’s health issues. Terry transferred a small percentage of the team to her in 2023.
Jessica and Kelly previously co-owned a restaurant franchise called The Healthy Scratch in Buffalo, which they launched in 2016, but by 2022, all the locations had closed.
Jessica has credited her younger sister with saving Kim’s life during her cardiac arrest episode in 2022. Kelly completed her CPR certification just a few months before the incident and was staying at Terry and Kim’s home the night it happened. “Even though she doesn’t like to take credit for this terrible situation, she absolutely saved her life,” Jessica wrote for The Player’s Tribune.
