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According to a report by Duff & Phelps, Virat Kohli is the most valuable celebrity in the country today, with a brand value of $185.7 million. The cricketer has retained his position for the fifth consecutive year.

Duff & Phelps recently released the seventh edition of its Celebrity Brand Valuation Study, 2021, titled ‘Digital Acceleration 2.0.’ The study ranks Indian celebrities based on the brand values derived from their brand endorsement portfolios and social media presence.

Varun Gupta, Head of Asia Pacific, Valuation Advisory Services, Duff & Phelps, said, “Businesses and brands have heavily leveraged social media and other online platforms for brand endorsements this year, too, with below par weightage to traditional platforms. 2021 also saw the emergence and growth of several startups in the fintech and direct-to-consumer (D2C) business segments that significantly contributed to the overall number of brand endorsements undertaken by the top 20 celebrities. As traditional as well as upcoming industries adopted the digital route to continue engaging with their consumers, we observed greater traction in fintech, social media and OTT platforms, and D2C platforms from a celebrity endorsement standpoint.”

Second in the list is 83 actor Ranveer Singh, up by one position from 2020, and currently valued at $158.3 million. Third in the list is actor Akshay Kumar, valued at $139.6 million. In 2020, Akshay Kumar held the second position.

Alia Bhatt acquired the fourth position at $68.1 million, up from rank seven last year, and becoming the most valuable female celebrity in the country.

Former Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni entered the top-five club this year. He ranked fifth at $61.2 million, followed by actors Amitabh Bachchan ($54.2 million), Deepika Padukone ($51.6 million), Salman Khan ($51.6 million), Ayushmann Khurrana ($49.3 million), and Hrithik Roshan ($48.5 million).

According to the study, the overall brand value of the top 20 celebrities in 2021 has been estimated to be $1.2 billion, up by 12.9 percent from last year.

Aviral Jain, Managing Director at Duff & Phelps, a Kroll business, says, “We also saw more sportspersons rising in the top celebrity rankings, including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, and PV Sindhu. This significant jump was because of the lesser competition from Bollywood celebrities since there were fewer theatrical releases in 2021.”

Check last year’s list, here.