Virat Kohli: A brand journey in 'Kohli-ty'

Kohli celebrated his 35th birthday on November 5 with a smashing century against South Africa at the World Cup. Here's looking at some of his brand endorsements this year

by e4m Staff
Published: Nov 6, 2023 8:58 AM | 2 min read

Cricketer Virat Kohli, or as fans like to call him ‘King Kohli’, celebrated his 35th birthday on November 5th. He is one of the most followed sports celebrities on social media, with 262 million followers on Instagram.

Reportedly, Kohli is among the world’s 100 richest sportspersons with a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore, a major share of which comes from his brand endorsements.

With a net worth of USD 112 million (about Rs 927 crore) in 2022, he ranked 61st highest-paid among all athletes worldwide, according to Sportskeeda. Forbes estimates that he made roughly Rs 279 crore. Only endorsement deals brought in Rs 256 crore for the cricketer.

In 2017, Kohli inked an eight year deal with sports lifestyle brand Puma, worth about Rs 110 crore. This association was to mark the launch of a signature line of sports lifestyle products with a special logo and brand identity.

On his 35th birthday, Kohli equalled Sachin Tendulkar's record of 49 ODI centuries in India's World Cup faceoff against South Africa on 5th November.

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A post shared by PUMA India (@pumaindia)

In 2021, the cricketer was signed as the brand ambassador of Chinese smartphone brand Vivo, to spread awareness and promote the launch of Vivo`s products series in the pipeline, back then.

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A post shared by Virat Kohli (@virat.kohli)

In October, Kohli was announced as the newest celebrity team owner in the E1 World Championship, joining the likes of Rafa Nadal, Tom Brady, Didier Drogba and Sergio Perez in the all-electric powerboat series. Kohli and sports tech entrepreneur Adi K Mishra are the principals at the helm of "The Blue Rising" team in the competition