BTS’ V is living up to the fan-given title “The King of Instagram” as the Layover singer reportedly clocks a whopping $68,000 and $810,000 for a sponsored Instagram post, the highest among Bangtan members. This was revealed by SPEAKRJ, a trusted social media auditor who announced the Instagram earnings for each Bangtan member.
BTS’ V, who goes by the Instagram handle @thv, has a staggering 61.9 million followers with 103 posts as of October 21, 2023. BTS’ V and his six other Bangtan members launched their personal Instagram accounts on December 6, 2021, and so far has restricted his Instagram to personal use.
According to Social Media Auditor, Kim Taehyung can be paid 768K$ per post on Instagram which makes him one of the highest-paid Influencers along with Messi, Kylie, Beyoncé and etc. pic.twitter.com/uhvZmZdFMg
— daily tae praise (@dailytaepraise) April 20, 2022
BTS’ V usually shares his pictures, pet dog Yeontan, friends and band members, and some brand commitments. ARMY @prettiboijonni wrote, “THATS MY KING RIGHT THERE,” with multiple purple heart and crown emoticons.
THATS MY KING RIGHT THERE👑👑💜💜💜💜!!!!!!
— ☁️Z!??☁️ (@prettiboijonni) April 20, 2022
BTS’ V fans celebrate him being declared as the highest-paid earner on Instagram
"#BTS member #V aka Kim Taehyung earns the most from an Instagram post. With a huge following of 61.8 million followers, V likely charges between $68,000 and $810,000 for a sponsored IG post." https://t.co/qYRbQ2OJB3 pic.twitter.com/0f0bg5j6Ui
— Thv Clout (@thvclout) October 19, 2023
BTS’ V has been active on Instagram for over two years and has already become the most followed male K-pop idol on the photo-sharing app. SPEAKRJ has made the calculations based on four factors, which are:
Number of followers: in BTS’ V’s case, it is 61.9 million.
Engagement: every post by BTS’ V’s gets 10 million likes, and the comments section is open only for his other six members – RM, Jin, J-hope, SUGA, Jungkook, and Jimin.
Average likes: most posts by BTS’ V have garnered 5-10 million likes per post, with few posts exceeding 20 million likes.
Finally, the Average comments on BTS V’s Instagram posts are 3-4, all by his fellow band members.
Interestingly, the cost of a sponsored post on BTS’ V’s Instagram account is estimated to be between $68K -$810K, around ₩89M to 1.08B Korean Won. However, BTS’ V has not promoted any sponsored posts so far.
For those unversed, sponsored posts are when a particular celebrity or influencer promotes a brand product or service in a covert, non-obvious way. This could mean that BTS’ V has set the numbers above as his rate for promoting a sponsored post, should he promote that in the future.
Or, based on his number of followers, engagement rate, and average likes and comments or posts, this is the amount he is eligible to charge for a sponsored post.
Although this data is over a year old, it has gained traction again after one of BTS’ V’s prominent fan clubs, @thvclout, posted this and gained proud reactions from ARMYs.
KING TAEHYUNG pic.twitter.com/e3rlFG3fI7
— can you speak more slush (@nightwatchraven) April 20, 2022
Second on the list is BTS’ V’s 95-liner friend and bandmate Jimin, who goes by the username @j.m on Instagram. The Like Crazy singer makes $63K to $756K, translating from ₩83M to 997M Korean Won.
Next on the list is SUGA, who is referred to as @agustd on Instagram and has 48.1 million followers. The D-DAY rapper can make $54K to $645K, which is ₩71M to ₩850M.
Bangtan’s oldest member, Jin, is fourth on the list, who qualified to rake in $51K to $614K or ₩67M to KRW 809M. Notably, he goes by the simple username @jin and has 46.8 million followers on the photo-sharing app.
J-hope ranks fifth on the list and can make $37K to $449K per sponsored post on the platform, translating from ₩49M to ₩592M. He goes by the username @uarmyhope on Instagram and has 47.9 million followers as of October 21.
Bangtan’s youngest member, Jungkook, would have ranked sixth. Still, since he has deleted his Instagram account, BTS’ leader RM takes up the final spot with estimated earnings from a sponsored post costing $16K, which is approximately KRW 21M. He goes by the username @rkive on Instagram and boasts 44.7 million followers.
Notably, none of the BTS members have engaged in sponsored posts despite having exclusive solo brand contracts with multiple Korean and international luxury fashion, jewelry, and food brands.