Cristiano Ronaldo continues to assert his dominance, securing the title of Instagram's highest earner for the third consecutive year. The illustrious five-time Ballon D'Or awardee claimed this position after Forbes named him the world's top-earning athlete in July. This accomplishment follows his relocation to Saudi Arabia.
Ronaldo has once again clinched the top spot on the 2023 Instagram Rich List, an internationally recognized gauge of online influence, as revealed by the Instagram scheduling tool Hopper HQ. Drawing on both internal and publicly accessible data, this list establishes the fee each user can command for posts on Instagram and YouTube.
With an approaching milestone of 600 million followers on Instagram, the Portuguese forward commands a staggering $3.23 million for each post, according to Hopper HQ. Unsurprisingly, his closest contender is Lionel Messi, the Argentine World Cup victor, who amasses nearly $2.6 million for every post.
These football icons stand tall not only among their athletic peers but also tower over celebrities such as vocalist and actress Selena Gomez, reality TV personality and cosmetics magnate Kylie Jenner, and actor Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.
Within the Top 20, only two more athletes find themselves – Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and Brazilian footballer Neymar. It's noteworthy that Neymar garners nearly twice the compensation per post compared to his Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe.
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Reflecting on these earnings, Mike Bandar, co-founder of Hopper HQ, expressed his astonishment at the annual escalation in platform revenues. However, he found the persistent presence of certain individuals more intriguing. He noted that conventional celebrities still wield significant influence compared to the emerging "influencer" status. Ronaldo and Messi's influence extends beyond the pitch, underscoring the potency of personal branding.
Despite being the top Instagram earner, TikTok luminary Khaby Lame claims the highest influencer position, ranked at number 40 on the list. Nevertheless, Ronaldo's income from Instagram posts dwarfs Lame's by nearly tenfold.
