Portugal international, Cristiano Ronaldo is reported to be earning more from Instagram as being an influencer than what he earns as a professional footballer with Juventus.
The Juventus mask-man was signed in 2018 where he is reported to be making an annual wage of $34 million per a report by Goal.com
However, according to a Hopper HQ study published on Buzz Bingo, the Portuguese is said to be earning a sum of $47.8 million from paid Instagram posts alone over the past year dwarfing some of the biggest celebrities in the world in the likes of Kylie Jenner, Selena Gomez, and Emily Ratajkowski.
Not only that, the Juventus attacker also beats his Argentine compatriot, Messi, who earns a little over $23.3 million from being an instagram influencer.
Amongst the brands Ronaldo has represented on Instagram are Clear Haircare, Nike Football, and Six Pad Europe.
“Ronaldo is the most followed human on Instagram (with 186 million followers) so companies are paying almost $1 million for posts to access his insane reach,” Hopper HQ marketing executive Nicola Cronin told Business Insider.
“Due to his status as a celebrity and football star, his earnings from Instagram break away from typical influencer partnerships, as many of his promotional posts will be part of wider sponsorship deals, such as Nike.
“You only need to go on his Instagram to see how many paid partnerships he does outside of the sports market.”