"I never played for money" - Serena Williams fondly revisits the time she deposited $1 million check in drive-thru ATM

Serena Williams recently recounted the early years of her illustrious career, where she would not collect her prize money winnings from tournaments she didn't win at. She also looked back on the time when she unsuccessfully tried to deposit a $1 million check into her bank account.

Williams made an appearance on the YouTube talk show Hot Ones earlier this week, where host Sean Evans asked her a variety of eclectic questions. At one point, the 23-time Major winner's lack of sophistication regarding money came up, prompting him to float by her some of the rumors he had heard about her.

"Is it true you never collected your winnings your first year on the tour? And then once tried unsuccessfully to cash your first million-dollar cheque in a drive-thru ATM?" Sean Evans asked the American.

Serena Williams replied in the affirmative to Evans before admitting she was much more concerned with winning on the court than earning money in her 20s.

"Yeah, those are all true. So I never played for money. Like, I played because I loved the sport. I wanted to be the best. I wanted to win." Serena Williams said. "I didn't even know at the time if I wanted to be the best. I just wanted to win."

"And so my tax guy would be like, 'You didn't get your money?' I was like, 'Oh! I didn't get that one in Zurich. I forgot that one in Moscow. So it was just like, I was playing to win, you know, and if I didn't win, I was just angry and was just figuring out a way to get better and win the next time."

The 42-year-old then hilariously revisited her attempt to deposit a $1 million dollar check into her bank account via a drive-thru ATM.

"So, then we're like, I got my cheque and it was a million dollars and I gotta go deposit it. I never spent a lot of money, so I was so serious," she added. "So I just went to a drive-thru... the guy was like, 'I think you need to come inside for this.' And I was like, 'Okay?' Yeah!"

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Serena Williams' net worth is estimated to be around $340 million

Serena Williams at the Paris Fashion Week

While Serena Williams admittedly never played for money, she certainly raked in a large sum of money over her career thanks to her dominance on the court. The American won around $95 million in prize money, which is by far the highest in the history of the women's game.

Off the court, the 23-time Major winner has earned an estimated $340 million through her companies and multiple endorsements (via Forbes). Some of her biggest sponsors include Nike, Wilson, Gucci, Ford Motor, Gatorade and Walt Disney.

That is not all in terms of her sources of revenue, though. Williams started her venture capitalist firm, 'Serena Ventures' in 2014 — through which she has invested in over 85 companies. She also heads her wellness brand 'Will Perform' and make-up company 'Wyn Beauty'.