Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has made Instagram history by becoming the first person to reach 600 million followers on the Meta-owned platform. The historic record comes months after he reached the 500-million follower’s milestone in November 2022.
Renowned as one of the world’s most exceptional footballers, he holds the position of forward for Al Nassr and serves as the esteemed captain of the Portuguese national team.
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The soccer star actively posts on Instagram and has gained more than 150 million followers since last May, according to Social Blade, a 34% increase.
According to Forbes, the 38-year-old football star also has a staggering net worth of $500 million, making him one of the wealthiest and most successful athletes in the world. Endorsements play a significant role in Ronaldo’s wealth and include companies like Herbalife, Armani, and Tag Heuer.
For the first time since 2017 (and third time overall), Cristiano Ronaldo also topped Forbes’ list of the world’s highest-paid athletes, earning himself a Guinness World Records title for the highest annual earnings for an athlete in 2023.
Argentine world-cup-winning footballer Lionel Messi is on the second spot on the list of most followers as he has 482 million. Meanwhile, American singer and actor Selena Gomez is at the third spot with 427 million followers, on Instagram.
Read more: Ronaldo breaks men’s international caps record, scores double
Kylie Jenner, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Ariana Grande, Beyonce, Khloe Kardashian, and Justin Bieber are the other celebrities in the 10 list of most-followed people on Instagram.
Cristiano Ronaldo has yet again left the competition behind as the five-time Ballon D’Or winner was named Instagram’s top earner for the third year in a row.
Ronaldo, who in July was ranked as the world’s highest-paid athlete by Forbes for the first time since 2017 following his move to Saudi Arabia, has now topped the 2023 Instagram Rich List, a global marker of online influence.
The list, compiled by the Instagram scheduling tool Hopper HQ, is based on internal and publicly available data on how much each user can charge for a post on Instagram and YouTube.
The Portugal forward brings in a massive $3.23 million per Instagram post, according to Hopper HQ, as he nears 600 million followers on the social media platform.
To little surprise, Ronaldo’s closest rival on the list is Lionel Messi, with the Argentina World Cup winner attracting almost $2.6 million for each post.