Indian Cricket Captain Virat Kohli was recently in the news for endorsing the cab-hailing service Uber. This is for the first time that Uber has signed any brand ambassador across the Asia Pacific region. With the addition of Uber endorsement in Kohli’s advertising kitty, the player’s brand valuation currently stands at USD 144 million. According to a report by Duff & Phelps, Kohli has also toppled actor Shah Rukh Khan to become the most valuable celebrity in the country.

While, Kohli’s brand endorsement value saw an increase in 56 percent as compared to last year, Khan for the first time lost the top spot. As per the Duff & Phelps report, the increase in Kohli’s brand image has been attributed to his high endorsement fees, on-field performances and an increase in the popularity index. Other than Uber, some of the other brands with which Kohli is associated are Puma, Tissot, Manyavar, Audi, Herbalife, American Tourister, MRF and Vicks. He had also endorsed Punjab National Bank (PNB), which has been in the news for the Rs 12,600 crore fraud.

The brand size of Shah Rukh Khan currently stands at USD 106 million, down by nearly 20 per cent compared to 2016. Some of the important brands endorsed by Khan are Emami, Hyundai, Nerolac, Airtel, Dish TV, Videocon and others. The third place in the list is occupied by $93 million and actor Akshay Kumar by adding seven new products to his portfolio, saw a 97 percent increase in his brand value. The list also mentioned the name of Ace badminton player PV Sindhu, who is the first female sports personality to feature in the top 15 celebrities, occupying the 15th slot with a brand valuation of $15 million.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2018 02:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).