Serena Williams' husband calls out Natalie Portman and others involved in their soccer team for putting up 'no money'

Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian now regrets the doomed franchise structure he and wife Serena Williams struck with their Angel City co-owners, actress Natalie Portman, venture capitalist Kara Nortman and entrepreneur Julie Uhrman.

The NWSL club was taken over by Disney CEO Bob Iger and his news anchor wife Willow Bay for a reported $250 million last year. But as Ohanian told Front office Sports during a recent podcast, that was done out of necessity because Angel City's original ownership structure was unsustainable.

'I structured it like a startup,' said Ohanian, who, according to FOS, invested around $5 million into the team without securing board control, thereby effectively giving away 75 percent of club equity 'for free' to co-founders Portman, Nortman and Uhrman.

'That works great in tech,' he said. 'In sports, it's a terrible idea.'

Portman and Uhrman remain on the team's board, while Nortman is still an investor, FOS reported. Furthermore, Uhrman is the team's CEO. None of the women were required to pay anything up front for Angel City FC, according to Ohanian. 

Daily Mail has reached out to spokespeople for Angel City FC and Portman for comment. 

As Ohanian sees it, the league looked at him as the primary owner, but he'd ceded much of his control to his partners, who put up 'no money.'

'I was [the] founding control owner in the eyes of the league, so it's my ass on the line,' he told FOS.

'I learned a lot from that.'

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that team officials and Ohanian were frustrated with Uhrman's 'financial and personnel management.'

Speaking to FOS, Ohanian said it was the league that should have prevented such an arrangement.

Ohanian said the only solution was to explore a sale, which they ultimately agreed to last year.

In four seasons, Angel City has finished as low as 12th and as high as fifth in the NWSL.