Virat Kohli overtakes Shah Rukh Khan as most valuable celebrity

Team India cricket captain Virat Kohli has raced past Bollywood badshah Shah Rukh Khan as India’s top-ranked celebrity brand.

Kohli, along with Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh, lead the ascent of the millennials to the top of the rankings, according to a Duff & Phelps report.

The global valuation and corporate finance advisor, in the third edition of its annual study of celebrity brand values in India, titled ‘Rise of the Millennials: India’s Most Valuable Celebrity Brands’, notes that the top-ranking batsman is the first choice of brands to engage and attract consumers.

“For the first time since we began publishing our rankings, Shah Rukh Khan has slipped from the top ranking and been replaced by Virat Kohli. He is now the first choice of brands to engage and attract consumers, fuelled by his extraordinary on-field performances and off-field charisma,” said Varun Gupta, Duff & Phelps, MD and Region Leader - India, Japan and Southeast Asia.

“In addition to Kohli, other young celebrities such as Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and badminton champion PV Sindhu have either risen in the rankings or entered our top 15 list, backed by noteworthy performances in their respective fields and strong endorsement signings over the last year,” he added. The key findings from the report point that the overall brand value of the top15 celebrities is $712 million.

Virat Kohli tops the list with a brand value of $144 million, followed by Shah Rukh Khan at $106 million, Deepika Padukone ($93 million), Akshay Kumar ($47 million) and Ranveer Singh ($42 million). New entrants to the top 15 celebrities included Varun Dhawan, debuting at number 10, and PV Sindhu at number 15.

Recently, Virat Kohli had been ranked above the Argentinean and Barcelona football legend Lionel Messi as one of the most-valuable brands among sports athletes by Forbes.

Gupta said that the millennials currently endorse 64 per cent of the total brands endorsed by the top 15 celebrities and constitute 63 per cent of the total brand value. The top sectors using celebrity brand endorsers included personal care, food and beverages, automobiles, smartphones and clothing.

India currently has a millennial population of around 400 million, and is expected to become the youngest country in the world by 2020 with a median age of 29. India’s millennial population is experiencing high growth in disposable income levels and, thus, it is increasingly becoming crucial for companies to add endorsers who can influence this segment of the population.

“While Bollywood celebrities continue to dominate the top 15, sportspersons are providing tough competition as Kohli, Dhoni and Sindhu, collectively valued at $180 million, account for almost a quarter of the total celebrity brand value of the top 15,” said Aviral Jain, Director, Duff & Phelps.

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