MUMBAI: Virat Kohli has hit another social media milestone, becoming the first cricketer to reach 50 million followers on micro-blogging social media platform Twitter.
His recent increase in popularity places him alongside five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo and NBA star LeBron James as among the only sportspersons who have 50 million or more followers on Twitter. Ronaldo, who is the most followed athlete across all social media platforms, has over 103 million followers on Twitter. Meanwhile, James has over 52 million followers on the microblogging website.
The 33-year-old is the most followed cricket player in the world and the third most popular athlete on Instagram (211 million followers), after Cristiano Ronaldo (476 million) and Lionel Messi (356 million).
In addition, Kohli has more than 49 million Facebook fans, bringing the total number of people who follow him on social media to more than 310 million.
The numbers he generates on social media also translate into monster payouts for the posts he puts out that are marketing related.
Kohli is the highest earning and the most followed Indian celebrity on Instagram. According to Hooper’s 2022 Instagram Rich List, Kohli earns $1,088,000 (Rs 8.69 crore) for one sponsored post.
On the global list, he is at the 14th spot on the list of top-earning celebrities on Instagram. The number one on the list is Cristiano Ronaldo.
On Twitter as well, the star batsman earns big. In the year 2020, a report revealed that Kohli earned $350,101 (Rs 2.5 crore) for a single sponsored tweet.
