Virat Kohli Tops the List of Forbes India Celebrity
The top position of the Forbes Celebrity list has been occupied by actors, before Kohli, who has earned Rs 252.72 crore between October 2018 and September 2019, according to Forbes.
For the first time, the captain of the Indian Cricket team Virat Kohli has dethroned Bollywood’s A-listers from the top of the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List of 2019, thus becoming the first sportsperson to reach the position since its inception 8 years ago.
The top position of the Forbes Celebrity list has been occupied by actors, before Kohli, who has earned Rs 252.72 crore between October 2018 and September 2019, according to Forbes. Actor Akshay Kumar also rose to the rankings reaching the second spot with Rs 293.25 crore in the period and Salman Khan, who has been at the topmost position since 2016, has completed in the top three, this year.
Virat Kohli ranks higher than Akshay Kumar, even after Akshay, declared higher earnings than the India captain. But Forbes said in an explanation later, how the ranks are being calculated, “The celebrity ranks are based on an aggregate of the estimated earnings and their calculated fame quotient, via print and social media reach. Some celebrities who score very high on fame might be ranked higher than those who have stronger revenues, but a poor fame score”.
Forbes India also clarified in detail later that Virat Kohli has made his earnings from the match fees that are through the BCCI central contract, brand endorsements and from an eight-figure fee for every sponsored Instagram post.
Former India captain Mahindra Singh Dhoni and Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar also make their place in the top 10 in the Forbes list at the fifth and ninth positions respectively. Sachin Tendulkar, according to Forbes, also holds the distinction of regularly appearing in the top 10 of the list year after year despite having retired from the game in the year 2013.
Rohit Sharma was a point away from the top 10 as well, but had made a good jump from the 23rd position to 11th, following a stellar year with the bat across all formats of cricket. Others from the Indian cricket team on the list include Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav.
Meanwhile, women cricketers Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana are also in the top 100 list. Other athletes who made entry into the Forbes India Celebrity 100 List are PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal, boxer Mary Kom, wrestler Bajrang Punia, footballer Sunil Chhetri, tennis player Rohan Bopanna and golfer Anirban Lahiri.