Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar: Who has the most fake Instagram followers?

Cristiano Ronaldo has built himself quite the empire over the course of his playing career.

The Manchester United superstar took his incredible on-field success and crafted it into a money-churning off-field behemoth as well.

Ronaldo’s money spinning portfolio extends so far beyond his massive salaries with lucrative endorsement deals and growing business’s making him richer by the hour.

From hotels to restaurants to underwear and even a hair clinic, Ronaldo has got all his bases covered so that he can continue to make a killing even after he has hung up his boots.

However, one of his more bankable sources of income over the last few years has been via social media and, most notably, Instagram.

He is the most followed individual on the platform and, as you can imagine, that level of marketability comes at a very high price to anyone who wishes to exploit it.

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Ronaldo is bar far and away the highest earning athlete on the platform but, according to a report in The Sun, it’s not quite what it seems.

The rise of the bot account has been a real scourge on the social media world over the last few years and it seems Ronaldo has not been able to escape it.

In fact, The Sun estimates that Ronaldo, through no fault of his own, boasts a staggering 92 million fake followers – more than the population of the entire United Kingdom and 23% of total following.

The report then goes onto claim that Ronaldo is earning nearly £400,000 per post, just off the bots alone.

That puts him top of the pops when it comes to bot earning with Lionel Messi and Neymar rounding out the top three.

You can see the top ten footballers with the most fake followers and how much they earn from