Motor racing champion Michael Schumacher is earning five million francs ($5.1 million) a year from an advertising deal with Swiss fashion brands Navyboot and Jet Set, business magazine Bilanz reports.

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The two brands are controlled by entrepreneur Philippe Gaydoul, who posed last year with Schumacher when the Formula One driver signed on with Navyboot.

Schumacher’s contract runs for three years with an option to continue for a further two years, the German-language magazine said.

Gaydoul took over Navyboot, a shoe brand that has diversified into other fashions, four years ago for around 120 million francs.

In 2010, his group took over Jet Set, a label founded in St Moritz in 1969 with roots in ski fashion.

Gaydoul apparently has deep enough pockets to pull in the likes of Schumacher.

The businessman made a fortune from his stake in Denner, the grocery chain, when he sold it in 2007 to Migros, Switzerland’s biggest retailer.  

A native of Germany who lives in a waterfront home overlooking Lake Geneva in Gland (canton of Vaud), Schumacher, 43, is a seven-time Formula One world racing champion.

After retiring in 2007-09, he returned to the F1 racing circuit in 2010 and currently races for the Mercedes team.

In addition to his many sponsorships, Schumacher serves as an ambassador to Unesco and is an advocate for driver safety.