Dan Bilzerian is widely known as the "King of Instagram" for his extravagant, party-filled lifestyle, often featuring models, guns, and gambling, though his influence has waned as figures like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi now dominate the platform with massive followings. While Bilzerian defined the "aspirational excess" niche, the "King" title now refers more to sheer follower count and cultural impact, with Ronaldo holding the top spot.
Back to when Dan Bilzerian was known as the “King of Instagram”.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 670 million followers
While he's not the most-followed account, Cristiano Ronaldo is comfortably the most-followed user on Instagram. The Portuguese footballer publishes a regular smattering of personal content, sponsored posts, and training footage.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most-followed person, sportsperson and European on Instagram. Lionel Messi is the most-followed South American on Instagram.
Top 16 Richest Influencers in India (2026)
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates 1 billion social media followers.
Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) is the number one highest paid influencer on Instagram. He has the most followers of any person in the world. As a global football star, his reach is massive. He often works with sports and health brands.
Top Social Media Influencers
The original founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger agree that Snoop Dogg was the first celebrity on Instagram after the rapper made the claim at Drink Champ to counter Soulja Boy's earlier claim of being the first rapper on the platform.
The most liked image post on Instagram has 75,471,947 likes, and was achieved by Lionel Messi (Argentina), as verified on 24 March 2023. It depicts Messi holding aloft the FIFA World Cup Trophy after his country beat France in the final, which was held in Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar.
However, it's generally agreed that influencers with 1 million followers can make anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000 per sponsored post, depending on their engagement and niche. Influencers in lucrative niches such as beauty, fashion, and fitness may command even higher rates.
Daniel Brandon Bilzerian (born December 7, 1980) is an American influencer. He gained notability from about 2013 for his extravagant lifestyle and photos with scantily dressed female models on social media. He is the eldest son of businessman Paul Bilzerian. Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) is the Head of Instagram where he oversees all functions of the business including engineering, product and operations.
To get the ✅ (verified badge) on Instagram, you can either apply for free if you're a notable public figure, celebrity, or brand by meeting specific criteria (authenticity, uniqueness, completeness, notability) through the app's settings, or you can subscribe to the paid Meta Verified service for a fee, offering the badge plus enhanced support and impersonation protection, says this Instagram Help page and this Shopify article.
The app was launched in 2010 by cofounders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and it is now owned by Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook.
Cristiano Ronaldo – 667 million followers
With a staggering 667 million followers, Cristiano Ronaldo has the highest followers on Instagram in 2026. He's not only a football icon but also a global sensation.
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first human to have a total of 1 Billion followers across all Social Media platforms.
2. Cristiano Ronaldo (667m followers)
He co-founded Instagram, along with Mike Krieger. Kevin Systrom was included on the list of America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40 2016. Under Systrom as CEO, Instagram became a fast growing app, with 800 million monthly users as of September 2017.
The top 10 most-followed Instagram accounts
Instagram accounts with 1,000 followers make $1,420/month on average and up to $100 per sponsored post. However, Instagram does not pay influencers directly, so you can begin making money whenever you land your first sponsorship deal or join an affiliate program, even if you don't have 1,000 followers yet.
In 2025, YouTube remains the platform that pays influencers the most overall, mainly because it offers multiple monetization streams like AdSense, channel memberships, Super Chats, and sponsorship opportunities, with long-form videos generating higher ad revenue due to longer watch times.