Football star Cristiano Ronaldo has topped the list of highest paid celebrities on Facebook-owned Instagram, earning a whopping $2,397,000 per post, data shared by the U.K.-based Instagram planning & scheduling platform Hopper shows. The winner of the Ballon d'Or prize multiple years, Ronaldo is one of the most followed celebrities on Instagram with 484 million followers.
The second on the list is Kylie Jenner, an American media personality, socialite, model, and businesswoman. She earns $1.8 million per sponsored post. The E! reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians star has 338 million followers on Instagram. She is also the founder and owner of the cosmetic company Kylie Cosmetics and is one of the most followed people on Instagram.
The number 3 position is held by another football legend Lionel Messi who charges $1.77 million per post. The Argentine professional footballer has over 327 million followers on Insta. He captains both the Spanish club Barcelona and the Argentina national team. Considered the best player in the world and widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, Messi has won a record six Ballon d'Or awards.
From India, cricket star Virat Kohli ranks 14th on the overall celebrity list but third among sports influencers after Ronaldo and Messi. He charges around $1.7 million for a sponsored post. Kohli has 200.7 million followers on Insta and has a net worth of around $50 million. Another Indian celebrity, actor Priyanka Chopra ranks 27th on the list. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant has 77,985,157 followers on Insta and charges $423,000 for each branded post.
US singer Selena Gomez has been ranked 4th on the Hopper list. She charges $1.73 million for a single promotional post. The popular singer has 320 million followers on Insta. Gomez, in her teens, rose to prominence for her role as Alex Russo in the Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place. At 17, she was appointed a UNICEF ambassador.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, who's known by his ring name The Rock, charges $1,713,000 for a single brand promotion post on Instagram. The WWF wrestler-turned-actor has 315,999,932 followers on the platform. Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he has since pursued a career in acting and also launched his own brand of tequila.
The sixth position goes to Kim Kardashian, an American media personality, socialite, model, businesswoman, producer, and actress. With a massive fan following, Kardashian has used her influence to launch multiple businesses and in 2015, Time magazine included her on their list of 100 most influential people. She rakes in $1,689,000 per branded post and has 311 million followers on Instagram.
Other celebrities in the top 10 are US singers Ariana Grande and Beyonce Knowles-Carter, and celebrity Khloe Kardashian and her sister and supermodel Kendall Jenner. Grande has 311 million Insta followers and charges $1.6 million per sponsored post. Beyonce has 256 million followers and charges $1.3 million per post. Khloe (243 mn followers) and Kendall (237 million) charge $1.3 million and $1.2 million, respectively.
