Maria Sharapova bolstered her endorsement portfolio even more yesterday in announcing a three-year partnership with luxury car maker Porsche out of Germany. "I am not good at keeping secrets but I did it for 3 months!!" she said on her Facebook page, which boasts more than 9.8 million followers. "Today I am so proud to announce a new and exciting global partnership with Porsche. What an amazing honor to be their first global ambassador." Interestingly, the accompanying photo features the Porsche logo on a wall behind Sharapova at such an angle that it appears she's wearing one of those off-kilter fascinators made for British royal weddings.
More info on Sharapova's Porsche deal here via ESPN's Darren Rovell. This addition to her profile supplements her own Sugarpova candy company's intake, plus her preexisting sponsorships with Nike, Tag Heuer, and many more, to the tune of $20 million-plus annually. It also serves to further the idea that she has indeed established herself as a global brand, one that will take her far beyond her professional playing days, as The New York Times indicated in a long-form profile in 2011. Basically, she could stop working tomorrow and be quite comfortably set for life.
Watch Maria reveal how she celebrated her recent 26th birthday ("lots of sangria"), starting at about the 13-minute mark of this WTA All Access Hour video interview.