Forbes: Kohli is India's most famous celebrity
India's Test skipper Virat Kohli outranked Bollywood icons Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan to be India's most famous celebrity in a list by Forbes India. He was also India's richest sports celebrity for 2016.
Published : Dec 23, 2016 18:24 IST
It's been a brilliant year for Virat Kohli. As Test skipper, he enjoyed an unbeaten run, saw India finish the year as the top team. With the bat, he's raked up runs, in all formats, averaging over 70. No wonder then, Forbes India has ranked him as the country's most popular celebrity this year.
Kohli outranked his ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan to be the most famous. With an estimated earnings of Rs. 134.44 crores October 1, 2015, to September 30, 2016 he's also India's richest sportsperson this year. Dhoni with 122.48 crores and Sachin Tendulkar with 58 crores follow Kohli in the list of the richest.
Dhoni's also the fourth famous celebrity while Sachin's sixth.
INDIA'S TOP-5 RICHEST AND MOST FAMOUS SPORTSPERSONS:
RICHEST (in crores) | MOST FAMOUS (among all Indian celebrities) |
Virat Kohli (134.44) | Virat Kohli (1) |
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (122.48) | Mahendra Singh Dhoni (4) |
Sachin Tendulkar (58) | Sachin Tendulkar (6) |
Rohit Sharma (24.17) | Yuvraj Singh (13) |
Yuvraj Singh (16) | Rohit Sharma (17) |
Among non-cricketers, Sania Mirza was the 28th most famous celebrity followed by badminton ace Saina Nehwal at the 31st spot.
Forbes India calculated celebrities' earnings by getting independent estimates from multiple sources—industry insiders, talent management agencies, sports consultants, advertising agencies, brand marketers, celebrity managers and other experts. To estimate fame, they tracked the media visibility of celebrities across print and television and tabulated their social media reach via Facebook and Twitter.