Cristiano Ronaldo Claims 1 Billion Social Media Followers
Earlier this month, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first men’s soccer player to score 900 goals in a career. On Thursday, he broke a new record off the pitch by becoming the first celebrity with a combined 1 billion social media followers across all platforms.
The Portuguese superstar shared the news one day after he began streaming a live follower counter on his new YouTube channel showing that he was approaching the milestone. His YouTube channel, which launched last month, reached 15 million subscribers in its first day and 50 million within its first week. It is now up to 60.4 million.
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Ronaldo also has 170.5 million followers on Facebook, 113 million on X and less than 10 million each on two Chinese platforms: Weibo and Kuaishou.
His largest fanbase, by far, is on Instagram, where he has 639 million followers, a number representing roughly 8% of the population on Earth. Fellow soccer player Lionel Messi owns the only other account with a following of at least 500 million, and behind him are American celebrities Selena Gomez (424 million), Kylie Jenner (397 million) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (395 million).
Ronaldo has more Instagram followers than every 2024 NBA All-Star combined, a group that includes LeBron James and his 159 million followers.
The 39-year-old Al-Nassr forward recently began his third season in the Saudi Pro League after signing a deal that paid him $215 million in salary in 2023. His $60 million in off-the-field earnings from endorsements ranked fourth among all active athletes. Overall, Ronaldo raked in $275 million in 2023, more than double any other athlete aside from Spanish golfer Jon Rahm ($203 million).
Ronaldo is the third highest-paid athlete of all-time, after adjusting for inflation. His lifetime earnings totaled $1.92 billion as of March and should cross $2 billion by the end of the year, which will make him just the third athlete to reach that mark after Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.
In terms of internet popularity, however, Ronaldo stands alone.
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