Cristiano Ronaldo reaches 1 billion social media followers, first celebrity to hit the milestone

Cristiano Ronaldo shares his achievement of reaching 1 billion social media followers on Instagram and YouTube.
Pop Culture & Art | September 13, 2024

Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner against Scotland. Photo: AFP

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first celebrity to reach a combined 1 billion followers across all social media platforms. The Portuguese soccer star, 39, shared the milestone on his social media accounts on Thursday, including Instagram and his newly launched YouTube channel, where he had been live-streaming a follower counter as he approached the mark. His Instagram, with 639 million followers, remains his largest platform, representing roughly 8% of the global population. Ronaldo also has 170.5 million followers on Facebook and 113 million on X, alongside smaller followings on Chinese platforms Weibo and Kuaishou.

Ronaldo’s YouTube channel, launched in August, quickly grew to over 60 million subscribers, with 50 million joining within its first week. The milestone makes Ronaldo the first individual to surpass 1 billion followers, a number his fellow soccer player Lionel Messi and other celebrities like Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner, and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson have yet to reach.

The Al-Nassr forward remains one of the highest-paid athletes, earning $215 million from his contract in Saudi Arabia in 2023, alongside $60 million in endorsements. His lifetime earnings are set to surpass $2 billion by the end of the year, putting him in the same league as Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods.

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