“Social media king!”- Fans react as BTS’ Taehyung’s CELINE post from Paris Fashion Week ranks as the world’s most valuable, worth 18.7 billion won

BTS member V aka Kim Taehyung has been named the celebrity with the world’s most valuable social media post, following his appearance at Paris Fashion Week earlier this month. On October 27, KBS News reported that two Instagram photos posted by Taehyung after attending CELINE’s fashion show generated an earned media value (EMV) of 18.7 billion won (approximately 13.5 million USD).

According to the report, the analysis was conducted by global influencer marketing platform Lefty. The platform evaluated the promotional impact of celebrity social media posts by converting engagement metrics such as clicks, mentions, and views into monetary value. The study excluded paid partnerships, focusing only on posts shared voluntarily by celebrities.

It revealed that Taehyung’s two photos from CELINE’s show during Paris Fashion Week (September 29–October 7, 2025) recorded a promotional impact worth 18.7 billion won. It placed him on rank 3 of overall across all industries and first among singers worldwide in EMV rankings, after Thai actresses Kornnaphat Sethratanapong and Sirilak Kwong.

Economic commentator Park Yeon-mi further explained in the news, that this remarkable figure did not represent a direct payment from any brand but reflected the exposure value generated purely from fan engagement and organic reach. She highlighted that even a single post from Taehyung can match the advertising power of large-scale international marketing efforts.

Additional data published by another media outlet Chosun Ilbo on October 23 noted that Taehyung stood at the top with an estimated worth of over 9 billion won per Instagram upload. His status as CELINE's global ambassador and his natural ability to generate worldwide attention.

As the news made into social media, fans across X dubbed him the “social media king,”. They celebrated how his two photos not only captivated the fashion world but also quantified his extraordinary impact in concrete economic terms. One fan commented,

"Our social media king! V AT VOGUE WORLD #VxVogueWorldHollywood #TaehyungxVogueWorld #VogueWorld TAEHYUNG TAEHYUNG"

Following the news of BTS' Taehyung being named the celebrity with the world's most valuable social media post, fans on social media celebrated his global influence. Praising his impact and continued success as CELINE's global ambassador, many highlighted how his achievements reflect Korea's growing cultural presence on the world stage.

Fans continued to pour in messages of admiration and pride. Many celebrated his success as proof of his status as a self-made global superstar, applauding his achievements beyond music and highlighting his growing impact in the fashion industry.

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BTS’ Kim Taehyung tops South Korea’s influencer rankings and leads global EMV charts, dominating K-pop’s influence in fashion and social media

On October 24, 2025, data analytics platform HypeAuditor revealed that BTS’ Kim Taehyung was currently South Korea’s most influential figure on social media. The report ranked him No. 1 domestically and No. 5 worldwide, based on his exceptional engagement metrics and authentic audience reach.

According to HypeAuditor’s South Korea Influencer Rankings, V led with 69.5 million followers on Instagram and a total of 8.7 million authentic engagements. In October 2025, his Instagram account @thv recorded 15.8% engagement rate, with each post averaging around 11 million likes. Between September 25 and October 23, his follower count rose from 69,381,727 to 69,515,064, reflecting a steady growth rate of 0.19%. During this period, the number of posts on his account also increased from 137 to 140.

According to Chosun Ilbo’s October 23 report, the global influence of K-pop stars continues to reshape the fashion and entertainment industries. After reviewing the data released by Lefty, the outlet found that every major international event like Fashion Week featured K-pop artists who recorded earned media values (EMV) exceeding $10 million. This growing dominance is attributed to the global rise of K-pop’s prestige, as per the outlet.

After Kim Taehyung topped the list of EMV with his appearance at Paris Fashion Week, Felix of Stray Kids followed him at the rank 2. The global ambassador for Louis Vuitton recorded $10.8 million. BLACKPINK’s Jisoo, the global ambassador for Dior ranked 3, with $10.4 million. Jennie, also from BLACKPINK and a Chanel ambassador, earned $10.1 million, rounding out a top tier dominated entirely by K-pop artists.

Other stars also made remarkable achievements. Enhypen, the global ambassadors for Prada, achieved the highest EMV at Milan Fashion Week (September 23–29) with $18.29 million (approximately 26.1 billion won), surpassing global figures from all industries. BTS’ impact was particularly notable at Milan Fashion Week, as per Chosun Ilbo. The global group’s members collectively achieved an EMV of $39.26 million (approximately 56 billion won) during the 2026 fashion season.

Jin, representing Gucci, ranked second overall with $9.74 million, followed by aespa’s Karina with $6.3 million, Stray Kids’ I.N with Bottega Veneta, Bang Chan with Fendi, and BTS’ RM, another Bottega Veneta ambassador. Global PR platform Onclusive also reported that Jin and RM were the 2 most-mentioned figures online during Milan Fashion Week, while Jimin ranked second in mentions during Paris Fashion Week.

Edited by Adrija Chakraborty