(Reuters) – Cristiano Ronaldo has once again proven his dominance as he was named Instagram’s top earner for the third consecutive year. The five-time Ballon D’Or winner, who recently became the world’s highest-paid athlete, has now topped the 2023 Instagram Rich List.
The list, compiled by Instagram scheduling tool Hopper HQ, calculates the amount each user can charge for a post on Instagram and YouTube using internal and publicly available data.
According to Hopper HQ, Ronaldo earns a staggering $3.23 million per Instagram post, as he continues to gain followers on the platform, nearing a milestone of 600 million.
His closest competitor on the list is Lionel Messi, who earns almost $2.6 million per post. This places the two football legends ahead of all other sports stars and even surpasses the earnings of celebrities such as Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner, and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
Among the Top 20 earners, only two other athletes made the list: Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and Brazilian footballer Neymar. Neymar earns nearly double the amount per post compared to his Paris St Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe.
“It’s still shocking to me that the annual earnings on the platform continue to rise,” said Mike Bandar, co-founder of Hopper HQ. “But what fascinates me more is the consistent presence of top players. It’s evident that traditional celebrities still hold sway over the influencer status.” Ronaldo and Messi not only dominate the football pitch but also the digital sphere, showcasing the power of personal branding and influence over ordinary people.
The top earning influencer on Instagram, TikTok star Khaby Lame, ranks 40th on the list. Ronaldo’s earnings are nearly 10 times greater than Lame’s for each Instagram post.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Ken Ferris)
Credit: The Star : Sport Feed
