Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo might still be licking his wounds after an early exit from UEFA Euro 2020 after a loss to Belgium last week but he has some else to cheer about off the field. The Juventus star has risen to the top of Instagram’s yearly rich list of celebrities who can charge the most for a sponsored post, with the footballer commanding as much as $1.6 million (£1.2 million) to endorse any product on the social media platform.
The 36-year-old footballer has toppled former WWE superstar and current Hollywood bigshot Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson off the top spot. This is a major upheaval as for the first time anyone other than reality TV, film, and music stars from the United States has topped the list which started in 2017.
The amount increased significantly in a year, nearly doubling from the previous estimate of $889,000 in 2019. The third-placed Portuguese footballer in 2019 beat Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and Kylie Jenner.
Ronaldo has more than 300 million Instagram followers, having gained more than 125 million since the beginning of the year, more than tripling his previous high of 100 million in 2017 when the first ‘rich list’ was published. His total social media following is around 550 million, which includes the major platforms Facebook and Twitter.
Johnson, who is the star in the Fast and Furious film franchise, has 250 million Instagram followers and can earn just over USD 1.52 million (£1 million) each post, while pop artist Ariana Grande (USD 1.51 million) is third on the list.
The only other sportsperson in the top 10 list is Cristiano Ronaldo’s long-time rival Lionel Messi. The Argentine forward who recently became a free agent after his Barcelona contract expired has 224 million followers, can charge up to $1.1m (£798,011) per post, placing him on the seventh position. Paris St-Germain and Brazil forward Neymar ($824,000) is the next highest-placed athlete on the list in 16th.
Recently, Cristiano Ronaldo‘s action of moving two Coca-Cola bottles had a negative impact on the brand at the ongoing UEFA Euro 2020. Coca-Cola’s stock prices dropped 1.6% as they went from being worth $242 billion to $238 billion – a loss of $4 billion – according to a report in The Daily Star.
Cristiano Ronaldo qui deplace les bouteilles de Coca et qui dit "eau" en montrant aux journalistes pic.twitter.com/LaDNa95EcG
— Gio CR7 (@ArobaseGiovanny) June 14, 2021
Top 10 highest-earning stars on Instagram per post
1. Cristiano Ronaldo – $1.6 million
2. Dwayne Johnson – $1.52 million
3. Ariana Grande – $1.51 million
4. Kylie Jenner – $1.49 million
5. Selena Gomez – $1.46 million
6. Kim Kardashian – $1.41 million
7. Lionel Messi – $1.16 million
8. Beyoncé Knowles – $1.14 million
9. Justin Bieber – $1.1 million
10. Kendall Jenner – $1.05 million
