Did you know that some of the richest people in the world are Instagram influencers? Some are creative content producers and the others are celebrities with luxury and fun lifestyles. No matter what type of content they share, they have something special to brands that make them the highest paid Instagram influencers.
Since more and more people trust influencers each day, they have become more valuable to brands and businesses. With the rise of influencer marketing platforms, nowadays, finding influencers is much easier than before. That’s why influencers earn more income these days.
Let’s delve into the extraordinary lives and accomplishments of the richest Instagram influencers.
17 Mega Instagram influencers (Celebrities) who make millions
Most of the richest people on Instagram are celebrities. Being in front of the camera makes them more popular and well-known. Therefore, they are somehow more compelling and gain more money through influencer marketing.
Instagram marketing has always been a big help for celebrities in becoming more popular, especially for startup influencers, actors, and actresses. Instagram not only allows them to make money but also helps them connect directly with their fans.
This list includes the 17 mega influencers on Instagram who are known worldwide.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)
As a famous Portuguese football player who is also a great model and public figure, Ronaldo is the most-recognized person in the world. He is not only a well-known celebrity but also the richest influencer on Instagram.
Being popular and loved isn’t just about Ronaldo himself; his entire family has earned fame and attention through his success. His wife, Georgina Rodríguez, became super famous after meeting Cristiano. She’s now a model, influencer, and celebrity, walking in various fashion runways. The same goes for Ronaldo’s eldest son, Cristiano Jr., who is following in his father’s footsteps as a brilliant player with several playing contracts begging for him to join their teams. Like father, like son!
Having the most followed Instagram account, with 642M followers at the moment of writing this article, he earns almost $3.2M per post he shares for brands. Chris Ronaldo is considered the highest paid Instagram influencer.
2. Lionel Messi (@leomessi)
It might be uncommon for you to see the names of the most popular football players on the list of the highest paid social media influencers. People usually think that their income is only from playing football. But that’s not true.
Being a well-known football player makes someone like Lionel Messi, an icon for most people. They try to be Messi! Act like Messi and do whatever he does. That’s why Messi or Ronaldo are Instagram stars. Messi has 504M followers and earns almost $2.5M per publication. As a sportsman, he can be an iconic figure for promoting sportswear brands.
Everything became more intense and exciting when he and his team won the 2022 World Cup. As captain, Messi played the most important role in leading Argentina to victory. Currently, he is 37 years old and does not intend to leave football until at least 2025. His contract with Miami will end then, and he may retire as a star football player.
3. Selena Gomez (@selenagomez)
People have known Selena since she was a teenager. Now she is a young singer and actress who quickly became famous and put her name on the list of top celebrities. Therefore, she is an iconic figure for teens and also one of the celebrities that has the highest engagement rate.
Selena is one of the unique figures for cosmetic, fashion, and lifestyle brands. She has 423M followers on her Instagram and receives almost $2.5M per paid partnership with brands. That puts her on the list of highest paid Instagram influencers.
It’s easy to assume that celebrities like Selena don’t engage much with Instagram, especially with agents often managing their accounts. But if you’re wondering whether they’re actually making money from it, you are underestimating the power of Instagram marketing. All you have to do is check how many posts she has published from luxurious brands with her face on them, and how they have gone viral.
With her cosmetics brand Rare Beauty launching new products, she’s making even more money from her brand.
4. Kylie Jenner (@kyliejenner)
There’s no surprise to see the name of Kardashians on the list of top 10 richest social media influencers! By the way, they are among the most famous families around the world. Although Kylie doesn’t carry the Kardashian’s family, that doesn’t make her less famous than others.
Kylie has her own beauty brand, called Kylie cosmetics. But having 396M followers on Instagram makes her a perfect figure for some luxury brands. Meanwhile, she earns almost $2.3M per post.
Most of Kylie’s income comes from her brand and her partnerships with popular magazines and her other brands, like Kylie Skin. However, she has launched so many new brands recently that some believe she has lost focus on her cosmetics line. This has led people to assume Kylie is having a hard time managing her businesses. While her customer numbers may have dropped, no brand would miss the chance to partner with the Kardashian family.
5. Dwayne Johnson (@therock)
Known as ‘The Rock’, Dwayne is a Hollywood actor mostly known for his athletic physique. Therefore, he is a perfect influencer for health and fitness brands. He has 394M followers and receives a minimum of $2.3M per post.
As a wrestler, actor, and father, he is killing it in all of his roles. Johnson became even more popular when he started playing a role in Fast and Furious, which led to more branding and movie contracts coming his way.
The Rock has a friendly personality on Instagram, where he shares his moments with his family, especially his daughters. He often has fun putting on masks and makeup with his daughters. He even let his daughters polish his nails, showing his soft heart, much like his role as the Tooth Fairy in one of his movies.
6. Kim Kardashian (@kimkardashian)
We know you were waiting to see this name on the list of the richest influencers in the world. Kim Kardashian is the most famous member of this golden family. Let’s take a quick look at her life and how she got famous.
The Kardashian family became famous after a TV reality show based on their lives. Then, Kim Kardashian and her half-sister Kylie Jenner gained more and more popularity each day until they both became public figures on social media.
Like her sister, Kim Kardashian has her own cosmetic brand, KKW, and also 359.9M followers on her Instagram. She is one of the richest people on Instagram because she receives almost $2.1M per promotion post.
7. Ariana Grande (@arianagrande)
Ariana Grande is another young American singer and actress that is so popular among teens. She has 376.5M followers worldwide and is one of the most influential Instagramers due to her success and popularity at this young age. She is the brand ambassador of a beauty brand called Ultra Beauty and received almost $2M per post.
Ariana went quiet for a little while and didn’t have anything to do other than running her account on Instagram and making money from it. But then she came back with a rocking song in her new album, We Can’t Be Friends, in 2024 and gained everyone’s attention, just like she used to as a teen.
All of a sudden, all attention came back to her because the song went viral, becoming the trending song on Instagram and TikTok.
8. Beyoncé Knowles (@beyonce)
Starting her career as one of the singers of Destiny’s Child band, Beyonce became famous very soon. She started acting in different movies and became one of the most popular singers in the world.
Beyonce has 314M followers on Instagram, and her promotion posts are primarily for brands such as Adidas. She earns almost $1.8M per publication.
Additionally, she used to have 319M million fans following her on social media, but her followers have dropped, likely because of her recent scandals. While everyone knows about Diddy and his charges for sex trafficking and racketeering, people have been judging Beyoncé for being friends with him and suspecting that she influenced him to commit these crimes. Diddy, however, pleaded not guilty.
Still, whatever happens, when we talk about Beyoncé, one of the highest-paid Instagram influencers and celebrities, nobody can take her down.
9. Khloe Kardashian (@khloekardashian)
As mentioned earlier, the Kardashian family is among the richest people on Instagram. Khloe is another member of this family who might not be as famous as Kim and Kylie, but she is on the list of the top Instagram earners.
Khloe is a businesswoman who is a fragrance designer and helps her sister Kylie with her beauty brand. She has 305M followers on Instagram and earns almost $1.8M per post.
10. Justin Bieber (@justinbieber)
As a Canadian singer, Justin Bieber has always been prominent from the first day he started his career as a singer till now, and he is an icon for his followers.
Justin Bieber has 295M followers, making him an excellent influencer for most brands to introduce their new products globally. Justin is among the highest paid influencers, and earns almost $1.7M per promotion he posts on his Instagram.
Ever since Justin got married to Hailey Bieber, they both have become bolder. Now that they have a kid, Justin and Hailey might not have as much time to work. But like other celebrities on Instagram, they use anything as an opportunity to make more money, even if it’s about pregnancy and having a baby. This could even lead Justin and his wife to more success, considering people often find kids adorable in ads.
11. Kendall Jenner (@kendalljenner)
It seems all the members of the Kardashian family are on the list of the richest influencers on Instagram. Kendall Jenner is the youngest sister of this family; she is a well-known model who was not on the list of richest people on Instagram until 2018.
Still, after that, she gained much attention on social media. Now, with 291M followers and earning $1.7M per promotion, she is one of the highest paid Instagram models.
And her career extends far beyond Instagram. Kendall is a highly professional supermodel who walks for top brands in their shows. Her recent walk was for the L’Oreal Paris fashion week in a red dress with blonde hair. As she walked, she absolutely killed everyone on her way.
12. Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)
Social media is in the hands of young artists. We mentioned Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, and Justin Bieber, but don’t forget Taylor Swift, a young cute American singer who became a successful singer of all time by receiving many awards, such as Grammy, Emmy, Country Music Association, and Billboard Music Awards.
Becoming Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year is only one of the reasons that Taylor Swift’s name had stirred social media. Therefore, she is definitely a person that can influence young girls because she is so successful in her career. With 283M followers, Taylor earns almost $1.6M per publication.
Instagram might be a handy platform for making money, but most of Taylor’s income comes from the tours she does around the world. Her Eras Tour had thousands of listeners coming, and the nearby locals felt like there might have been an earthquake.
13. Jennifer Lopez (@jlo)
The list of the richest people on Instagram will not be complete without the name of Jennifer Lopez, known as JLO, a dancer, singer, and actress who is always on top of the news. JLO definitely knows how to get more popular each day.
Like other celebrities on the list, Jennifer Lopez has her own brand. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t collaborate with different brands to promote their businesses. She has 250M followers on Instagram and mainly works with fashion brands, such as Guess or Dolce Gabbana. She earns almost $1.4M for each post she dedicates to other brands.
14. Niki Minaj (@nickiminaj)
Calling herself Barbie on Instagram, Niki Minaj is a singer, rapper, and songwriter, with 227M followers. She earns $1.3M for every post she shares, which makes her one of the richest Instagram influencers.
Nicki has always been bold among other celebrities. If you haven’t noticed, Nicki and her fans, the Barbz, have their unique lingo that outsiders often struggle to understand. Nicki even created the Nictionary, a dictionary app featuring her most popular terms at the time. Although the app is no longer available, several links to the Nictionary can still be found online.
Her valuable achievements beside her masterpieces and her connections with her fans might be the main reasons why she is one of the highest-paid Instagram influencers.
15. Neymar da Silva Santos (@neymarjr)
It seems that football players and models are more popular than others on social media platforms, such as Instagram. We named three football players on the list of 30 richest influencers on Instagram. This time, we will go to Brazil, the country of sun and sand.
Neymar is a famous athlete who plays for Brazil’s national football team and is the model of most sports brands, including Nike. Neymar has 226M followers and reaches $1.2M per post he publishes for famous brands.
Neymar is so important and loved in the football community that even his latest rumors about cheating on his pregnant girlfriend couldn’t make him any less popular. With him having a little girl, brands have been more excited to work with him both outside and inside Instagram.
16. Katy Perry (@katyperry)
The pop star who is noticed for her unique character and style, Katy Perry is another celebrity on the list of highest paid Instagram influencers. The way she dresses and does makeup make her so popular. That’s why she became an excellent icon for marketing clothes and shoes.
She also has her own shoe collection that carries her brand name, the Katy Perry collection. She has 205M followers and earns $1.2M per post, which makes her one of the richest Instagram influencers.
17. Kevin Hart (@kevinhart4real)
Last but not least, let’s talk about the comedic Hollywood star Kevin Hart, a man who is loved by everyone in the world obsessed with comedy movies.
Kevin was invisible to most people in the comedy world, but everything changed when he got a role in the Jumanji movie alongside The Rock. That was the moment when he started grabbing everyone’s attention. With his latest role in Fast & Furious 9, his attention-grabbing talent became even more bold.
Kevin now has 178 million followers on Instagram and makes around $28 million each year from Instagram brand promotions.
15 Highest-Paid Instagram Influencers (Non Celebrity)
1. Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli)
Few athletes are known enough to have a global fan base. As one of India’s most celebrated cricket players, Virat Kohli has become one of the richest influencers in the world having millions of fans. In 2018, he received India’s highest sporting honor, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, boosting his popularity even further. Currently, he has an impressive 271 million followers on Instagram.
He is one of the top Indian influencers who is the icon of some clothing and sporting brands worldwide and earns almost $1.3M per post.
2. Eleonora Pons (@lelepons)
The famous Mexican model and dancer, Eleonora started modeling on the Vine platform. But this platform couldn’t stay as popular as Instagram. Therefore, Eleonora created an Instagram account and now has 53.6M followers. Eleonora has appeared in different music videos, and earns $180K per post.
Besides her Instagram, she is one of the hottest YouTubers, often referred to as an old YouTuber. Ever since she got married, her videos have reached another level of laughter and joy. She loves creating content with her hubby and her best friends.
3. Huda Kattan (@hudabeauty)
Huda is one of the most popular beauty influencers on Instagram who lives in Dubai. She started her account as a makeup artist who gives tips and tricks about having better makeup. She reached more fame until she announced her own cosmetic brand, Huda Beauty. Huda has 4.4M followers and gains almost $158K per post-publication.
As one of the highest-paid Instagram influencers, Huda is doing an amazing job as both an entrepreneur and makeup influencer. Her cosmetics brand, Huda Beauty, is super popular, and she’s probably making most of her money from it since everyone knows her!
Huda Beauty is a very popular cosmetics brand. Since she’s a well-known model, most of her money probably comes from her brand!
4. Sommer Ray (@sommerray)
The American model, Sommer is mostly known because of her vlog channel and YouTube videos. Apart from being a model, Sommer has founded a beauty brand called ImaraisBeauy. She has 23.9M followers and earns $86K per promotion post.
Sommer is a top female Instagram model with an obsession over cute animals, if huge spiders and tarantulas are considered cute. When you visit her Instagram, you’ll see her love for wild animals like panthers, her green eyes, and her slaying body, all of which make it hard not to follow her.
5. Zach King (@zachking)
You can never get enough of creativity on Zach’s Instagram. He started his online presence by sharing tutorials about Final Cut Pro, the editing software. Before he found his way to Instagram, he was a famous Youtuber.
After gaining fame on YouTube, he became more popular on Instagram too. However, on Instagram, he is primarily a creative video maker. He also uses this platform to promote brands. With 29.3M followers, Zach earns $82.5K for each promotion post.
6. Logan Paul (@loganpaul)
Logan is an American vlogger, boxer, wrestler, and artist who has appeared as a guest on the popular Law & Order TV series. However, only a few may recognize him as the actor of this series because before being on TV, he had a vlog on the Vine platform with 19M followers.
Having 26.9M followers on Instagram, Logan is still famous and known as a great fighter. The value of each post-publication of Logan is $65K.
7. Jake Paul (@jakepaul)
The Paul family has two members on the list of the highest-paid Instagram influencers non celebrity. Jake is the younger brother of Logan. He had a role in the Disney Channel series called ‘Bizaardvark.’
But acting is not his career right now. Jake is more like a social media character than an actor. He has 27M followers and gains $49K per post.
8. Joanna Gaines (@joannagaines)
If you think a mom can’t become a successful and wealthy businesswoman, you should see Joanna Gaines. Gaines and her husband have a renovating company called Magnolia Reality to turn out-of-date homes into modern and up-to-date places.
Joanna and her husband didn’t just fix up homes, they transformed their lives, turning their dreams into a successful business with merchandise, books, a cooking show, and even a restaurant. Joanna Gaines and her husband never could have predicted the success that fixing homes would bring them.
Although their company has many followers, Joanna receives more attention on Instagram. She has 13.8M followers and earns $45K for each promoti
9. Nash Grier (@nashgrier)
Calling himself a full-time dad, Nash is a video creator with 13.6M followers. However, now he is mostly a dad influencer or lifestyle blogger because he dedicates most of his posts to his daughter, who is still a 2-year-old kid.
Nash also has a YouTube channel that has so many subscribers too. But he is more active on Instagram, and earns $41K for each advertising post.
10. Araya Alberta Hargate (@chomismaterialgirl)
You may think that all the top paid Instagram influencers are from the US. But you can also see some famous Instagram models that are from Thailand.
Araya’s content on Instagram is mostly about her wearing different outfits in the streets, but she also shares a lot about her three kids.
Araya was the winner of the beauty pageant in 1998. As a top-rated model, she is the center of attention for most clothing and fashion brands. She was the tenth highest paid Instagram model in 2019. With 11.6M followers, Araya earns $35K for each post she publishes for brands.
11. Addison Rae (@addisonraee)
With 34.5M followers, Addison is a sexy model on Instagram who attracts clothing and fashion brands to collaborate with her to promote their products. As one of the youngest influencers on the list, Addison receives $25K for every promotion post she creates on Instagram.
Lately, Addison has been in so many different ads from popular brands and magazines like Perfect Magazine. With each passing day, Addison becomes more and more popular.
12. James Charles (@jamescharles)
James is a male makeup influencer and fashion blogger known for his unique style and character. He has 20.1M followers on Instagram and is one of the highest paid influencers on Instagram.
James hasn’t just killed it as a male influencer, but recently, he released a song. The song tells a story about figuring out who loves you enough to stay by your side during hard times and who’s going to walk away because it’s the easier choice.
Many believe that the song is about James’ hard work on Instagram, when he first started doing makeup as a guy, it took a really hard time before people actually realized that everyone can be what they want in life. However, after everything he has been through, James is still setting the platform on fire.
13. Chiara Ferrangi (@chiaraferragni)
As one of the top Italian Instagram influencers, Chiara is a model that mainly promotes luxurious products. She was first known because of her blog, ‘The Blond Salad,’ which she created in 2009.
After her blog gained more visitors, she created an Instagram account and became even more popular than before. Chiara has 28.7M followers and is now one of the richest Instagram influencers.
Right now, most of her content revolves around her shooting for different brands, going out to eat, or promoting a restaurant nobody actually knows. She also often posts about her two kids. Chiara is a founder of multiple brands, including Chiaraferragnibrand, Chiaraferragnibeauty, Theblondesalad, and the Tbscrewagency.
14. Felix Kjellberg (@pewdiepie)
For people who love gaming, especially Minecraft, Felix is a known character. He is one of the top gaming YouTubers with a channel that has over 111M subscribers, which is the third most subscribed channel on this platform.
But popularity on YouTube wasn’t enough for him. Now he has 20.8M followers on Instagram and earns $70K per post he creates for brands. However, he is not a gamer on Instagram anymore, he usually shares photos and videos of his family and daily life.
15. Michelle Lewin (@michelle_lewin)
Known as one of the top female fitness influencers, who didn’t stop training even when she was pregnant, Michelle is an iconic character for moms and pregnant women. She is not only a model but also a lifestyle influencer who influences people with her fitness videos.
After her pregnancy, her body was not in great shape, and for a professional fitness influencer like Michelle, many thought that would be a hard time for her. The truth is, she was enjoying her time as a mother, staying motivated, and after a few months, she shockingly came back with her slaying, fit body.
With 16M followers, Michelle is a macro influencer and now is one of the highest-paid Instagram influencers non celebrity.
How to Find the Best Influencers to Work with?
Unfortunately, the mega influencers and celebrities we mentioned are very expensive, and your brand needs a huge budget to work with them. If you’re a startup that can’t afford to pay these high fees, consider collaborating with micro-influencers who charge lower rates.
But how can you find the best influencer match for your brand? Using marketing platforms like Ainfluencer can be a great help for your brand and business. Ainfluencer is a 100% free direct influencer marketplace for Shopify users to create their campaigns and start collaborating with influencers.
Ainfluencer connects you to over a million active users across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat. Get influencers to create content and grow your product’s visibility on these platforms. Our AI-powered chatbot matches you with the ideal influencers for your brand, allowing you to manage collaboration deals directly.
Ainfluencer provides you with the chance to connect directly with influencers, but we can also manage everything for you. We offer four packages for brands and businesses that don’t have the time or prefer not to handle direct interactions with influencers. By choosing a package, our team will take care of everything for you.
This is just a primary thing you can have while working with us to know more and more about Ainfluencer join us and create your campaign.
Conclusion
We have football players, actors, models, content creators, and more people with unique talents in the list of the highest paid Instagram influencers. Being a social media icon is not easy. Every character on the list has tried hard to stay in this position and become an influential person. However, this hard road leads to a better result too. The more effective a person is, the higher income they may have.
FAQs
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the highest-paid Instagram influencer. With over 600 million followers, he makes millions from sponsored posts and brand deals. His huge fan base makes him valuable to brands to promote their products to the world.
Brooklyn Beckham, the oldest son of famous soccer player David Beckham and fashion designer Victoria Beckham, has become the highest-paid Instagram influencer in the UK.
His popularity on Instagram comes from his family’s fame, his own career in photography, his many brand partnerships, and of course being married to Nicola Peltz. As a result, Brooklyn earns a significant income from sponsored posts and collaborations with brands, making him the top Instagram influencer in the UK.
Kylie Jenner is one of the richest Instagram influencers in the U.S. because of her popular brand, Kylie Cosmetics. Being in the Kardashian family also helps her stay famous and keeps her on the list of the richest people every year.
Apart from the celebrities, like Ronaldo and Kylie Jenner, who are definitely rich people on social media, Jimmy Donaldson is a non-celebrity who is named as the richest social media influencer in 2023. He gained most of his fame from YouTube, where he is known as MrBeast and has 217M subscribers. As Forbes mentions, he earns $3.2M for each post he shares on this platform.
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