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Ronaldo first man to reach 100M Instagram followers

By Alex Butler
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal looks on during the Euro 2016 Semi-Final match on July 6 in Lyon, France at the Stade de Lyon. File Photo by Chris Brunskill/UPI
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal looks on during the Euro 2016 Semi-Final match on July 6 in Lyon, France at the Stade de Lyon. File Photo by Chris Brunskill/UPI | License Photo

May 4 (UPI) -- Real Madrid soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo became the first man Wednesday to achieve 100 million Instagram followers.

The active social media user now ranks among celebrities including Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Beyonce and Taylor Swift for his following. He added more than 43 million followers in just the last year.

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Ronaldo, 32, has made 1,786 posts to his account, with the first coming 235 weeks ago.

His pictures show off his Real Madrid training and games, vacations, endorsements, family, fashion and more. He achieved 200 million social media followers on all platforms in 2016.

Ronaldo's first post earned more than 329,000 likes.

His most liked post overall came just 10 weeks ago. It features Ronaldo sitting on a Bugatti. That post has nearly 4 million Instagram likes.

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🏡😎☀️

A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) on

His second most-liked Instagram post is from a Real Champions League victory. That post features Ronaldo running in celebration and has been liked more than 3.7 million times.

His third-most liked post features him standing in front of a black Lamborghini. That post also has more than 3.7 million likes. The fourth-most liked post on his account is a picture of Ronaldo and his son, with the caption: "Lunch with my little man." The post has more than 3.7 million likes.

Bom dia 👍

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A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) on

Rounding out the top five of Ronaldo's most-liked Instagram posts is a photo of him kissing the Euro Cup after he helped Portugal to win UEFA Euro 2016. That post has more than 3.6 million likes.

Ronaldo is a four-time winner of the Ball d'Or, winning his latest in December. Rival Lionel Messi has won the award five times. The duo has won the award every year since 2007.

Lunch with my little man❤️️❤️️❤️️

A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) on

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But when it comes to Instagram followers, Ronaldo is first. Messi's Barcelona teammate Neymar has 74 million followers, while Messi sits at 70.8 million.

Ronaldo has more than 120 million followers on Facebook, making him the first account to have at least 100 million fans on both platforms. He has 51.9 Twitter followers.

Forbes reported in December that Ronaldo's social media presence brought in $474 million in value for Nike in 2016. His most valuable post came after that Euro 2016 Final. Ronaldo posted a silhouette of himself drawn on top of the Eiffel Tower, with the caption reading: "When a team and nation believe, anything is possible. #SparkBrilliance #justdoit." The post also featured a Nike logo and the slogan "Just Do It." According to Forbes, that single post generated $5.8 million in media value for the brand.

Ronaldo is worth $400 million and has a salary of $45 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The soccer star has a $1 billion contract with Nike, according to reports. He first signed with the sports merchandise behemoth in 2003. He extended that deal in November.

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"I have a great relationship with this brand, I have great friends here in the company," Ronaldo said in a Nike release. "We work as a family, too. This is my brand."

According to CNN Money, Nike paid Michael Jordan more than $473 million from 1993 through November of last year.

Ronaldo also agreed to a new deal with Real in November. The new pact runs through June 30, 2021. The deal pays him an estimated $50 million annually.

Real's next test comes in La Liga play at 2:45 p.m. Saturday against Granada at Los Cármenes. Ronaldo is also expected to suit up for Los Blancos this summer at El Clásico in Miami, Fla. against his rival Messi.

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