Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo muscled his way into Instagram’s top-followed ranks this year as he documented his career and growing family, but pop star Selena Gomez still reigned supreme on the social media platform.
Ronaldo, who was named Forbes’ highest-paid soccer player this year with $93 million in earnings, climbed to No. 2 with 116 million followers on Instagram, up from 82.8 million followers and the No. 6 slot last year.
Gomez remained the most-followed person on Instagram with 130 million followers this year, up from 103 million last year.
Ronaldo, 32, a striker for Real Madrid, has posted numerous photos and videos on Instagram this year both on and off the soccer field. He notched three of the ten most-liked posts on Instagram this year, all documenting his growing family.
The athlete announced that he was a father to newborn twins born to a surrogate mother in June, in a post that garnered more than 8.2 million likes. His most popular post clocked more than 11 million likes in November, announcing the birth of his baby daughter with his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez.
In 2010, Ronaldo said he became father to a son and had full custody. The mother’s identity was not publicly announced.
Facebook Inc-owned Instagram has more than 500 million daily active users and 800 million monthly active users. The platform allows users to post photos, videos and this year introduced instant ‘stories,’ where posted videos and photos disappear after 24 hours.
