In today’s world, many of us spend our spare time scrolling through social media and following people we aspire to be like. But how much is a follow or a like really worth?
Our influencer experts wanted to discover how much some of the biggest celebrity trainers and sports stars could earn from sponsored posts on Instagram.
We analysed the accounts of some of the world’s biggest influencers to create the Insta Earnings Report and ranked them on their follower count and potential earnings per post, to reveal who stands to make the most from their account.
Top 30 Highest Earning Celebrity Trainers
Taking the top spot is Melissa Alcantara, Kim Kardashian’s trainer, who commands an impressive 1.1 million followers on Instagram. Based on this, she could earn up to £4,800 per post for sharing sponsored content, proving that even those who work for the Kardashian clan have high earning potential.
Jeanette Jenkins, Alicia Keys’ personal trainer, takes second place. Jeanette has racked up over 850,300 followers on Instagram, which equates to a healthy sum of £3,700 per post.
| Rank | Influencer Name | Social Handle | Number of Insta Followers | Amount They Could Earn Per Post | Celebrity Clientele |
| 1 | Melissa Alcantara | @fitgurlmel | 1,100,000 | £4,800 | Kim Kardashian |
| 2 | Jeanette Jenkins | @msjeanettejenkins | 850,300 | £3,700 | Alicia Keys |
| 3 | Tracy Anderson | @tracyandersonmethod | 649,800 | £2,800 | Gwyneth Paltrow |
| 4 | Mary Helen Bowers | @balletbeautiful | 549,100 | £2,400 | Natalie Portman |
| 5 | Bradley Simmonds | @Bradleysimmonds | 417,500 | £1,800 | John Terry |
| 6 | Gunnar Peterson | @gunnarfitness | 374,800 | £1,600 | Khloe Kardashian |
| 7 | Luke Zocci | @zocobodypro | 323,100 | £1,400 | Chris Hemsworth |
| 8 | Don Saladino | @donsaladino | 302,600 | £1,300 | Blake Lively |
| 9 | Simone De La Rue | @simonedelarue.official | 300,600 | £1,300 | Jennifer Garner |
| 10 | Tony Horton | @tonyshorton | 255,100 | £1,100 | Usher |
| 11 | Anna Kaiser | @theannakaiser | 244,400 | £1,100 | Shakira |
| 12 | Harley Pasternak | @harleypasternak | 234,300 | £1,000 | Ariana Grande |
| 13 | Patrick Nilsson | @thepatricknilsson | 218,300 | £939 | Justin Bieber |
| 14 | Lou Ferrigno | @theofficiallouferrigno | 218,300 | £939 | Michael Jackson |
| 15 | Erin Oprea | @erinoprea | 203,200 | £873 | Carrie Underwood |
| 16 | Jonny Roxx | @ovoroxx | 165,400 | £711 | Drake |
| 17 | Dave Rienzi | @daverienzi | 156,500 | £673 | Dwayne Johnson |
| 18 | Joe Holder | @ochosystem | 133,700 | £574 | Bella Hadid |
| 19 | Don Brooks | @donamatrixtraining | 118,600 | £510 | Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian |
| 20 | Leyon Azubuike | @leyon | 95,700 | £411 | Jennifer Anniston |
| 21 | Nicole Winhoffer | @nicolewinhoffer | 91,400 | £393 | Nicki Minaj |
| 22 | Amy Rosoff Davis | @amyrosoffdavis | 80,900 | £348 | Selena Gomez |
| 23 | Peter Lee Thomas | @peterleethomas | 80,500 | £346 | Helle Berry |
| 24 | David Kirsch | @davidkirsch | 75,900 | £326 | Kate Upton |
| 25 | Danny Musico | @dannymusico | 49,500 | £212 | Leonardo DiCaprio |
| 26 | Mark Jenkins | @themarkjenkins | 42,000 | £180 | P Diddy |
| 27 | David Buer | @davidbuer | 24,300 | £104 | Tyler Perry |
| 28 | Patrick Murphy | @murphyfitness | 23,200 | £99 | Zac Efron |
| 29 | Brian Nguyen | @dragonmasterbri | 14,700 | £63 | Mark Wahlberg |
| 30 | Simon Waterson | @simonwatersonperformance | 6,600 | £28 | Daniel Craig |
Cristiano Ronaldo could earn up to £14.4 million per year through Instagram!
Whether you are looking for inspiration for fitness or performance, it’s no surprise that some of the world’s biggest sports stars are some of the most followed on Instagram. From their physique and diet to their training routines and unique skills, we are obsessed with the lives of famous athletes.
When analysing which professional sports stars had the most followers, and therefore the most earning potential per post, our top three stars were all football players. The one and only Cristiano Ronaldo took first place.
The Portuguese football star is arguably one of the most influential football players and athletes in the world. And he has 286 million followers to back this up. According to our calculations, Ronaldo could earn up to £1.2 million per post – with the earning potential of over £14.4 million a year!
Coming up second is Argentinian football professional Lionel Messi. Messi is another football player who is well-known all around the world, captaining both Barcelona and Argentina FC. Messi harnesses over 206 million Instagram followers, which equates to a potential earning of £889,800 per post.
Making our top three most influential and highest-earning football stars on Instagram is Neymar Jr. The Brazilian star is widely considered as one of the best players in the world and has over 150 million followers. Because of this, Neymar could command up to £648,200 for a sponsored post.
Top 30 Highest Earning Sports Stars
| Rank | Influencer Name | Social Handle | Number of Insta Followers | Amount They Could Earn Per Post | Sport Known For |
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | @cristiano | 286,600,000 | £1,200,000 | Football |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | @leomessi | 206,800,000 | £889,800 | Football |
| 3 | Neymar | @neymarjr | 150,700,000 | £648,200 | Football |
| 4 | Virat Kohli | @virat.kohli | 117,900,000 | £507,300 | Cricket |
| 5 | LeBron James | @kingjames | 84,800,000 | £364,800 | Basketball |
| 6 | David Beckham | @davidbeckham | 66,400,000 | £285,700 | Football |
| 7 | Ronaldinho | @ronaldinho | 55,000,000 | £236,700 | Football |
| 8 | Kylian Mbappé | @k.mbappe | 50,900,000 | £219,000 | Football |
| 9 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | @iamzlatanibrahimovic | 47,400,000 | £203,700 | Football |
| 10 | Marcelo Vieira Jr. | @marcelotwelve | 47,000,000 | £202,400 | Football |
| 11 | James Rodriguez | @jamesrodriguez10 | 46,500,000 | £200,000 | Football |
| 12 | Sergio Ramos | @sergioramos | 44,200,000 | £190,000 | Football |
| 13 | Paul Pogba | @paulpogba | 44,100,000 | £189,500 | Football |
| 14 | Gareth Bale | @garethbale11 | 43,800,000 | £188,300 | Football |
| 15 | Mo Salah | @mosalah | 42,200,000 | £181,600 | Football |
| 16 | Paulo Dybala | @paulodybala | 41,600,000 | £179,000 | Football |
| 17 | Luis Suarez | @luissuarez9 | 40,300,000 | £173,400 | Football |
| 18 | Karim Benzema | @karimbenzema | 38,500,000 | £165,700 | Football |
| 19 | Andres Iniesta | @andresiniesta8 | 36,300,000 | £156,200 | Football |
| 20 | Antoine Griezmann | @antogriezmann | 32,700,000 | £140,600 | Football |
| 21 | Dani Alves | @danialves | 32,200,000 | £138,400 | Football |
| 22 | Sachin Tendulkar | @sachintendulkar | 29,200,000 | £125,800 | Cricket |
| 23 | Khabib Nurmagomedov | @khabib_nurmagomedov | 28,400,000 | £122,000 | MMA |
| 24 | Zinedine Zidane | @zidane | 28,200,000 | £121,100 | Football |
| 25 | Toni Kroos | @toni.kr8s | 27,400,000 | £117,800 | Football |
| 26 | Eden Hazard | @hazardeden_10 | 27,000,000 | £116,300 | Football |
| 27 | Floyd Mayweather | @floydmayweather | 25,800,000 | £110,800 | Boxing |
| 28 | Mesut Özil | @m10_official | 24,000,000 | £103,400 | Football |
| 29 | Philippe Coutinho | @phil.coutinho | 23,200,000 | £99,900 | Football |
| 30 | Isco Alarcon Suarez | @iscoalarcon | 20,500,000 | £88,400 | Football |
If these Instagram accounts packed full of fitness, sport and performance have inspired you to get moving, check out some of our favourite workout routines that you can practice in the comfort of your own home as well as in the gym!
Methodology
We compiled a list of 60 of the biggest celebrity personal trainers and sports stars in the world to find out how much they would be able to earn posting sponsored content on Instagram.
We then used Inkifi’s Earnings On Instagram to calculate the per post earnings. To show yearly earnings we used their fee per post and calculated that across one year by with on average one paid post per month.
