Millionaire student Olivia Dunne is now ‘top-ranked influencer’

An American entrepreneur, who became a millionaire at 18, is celebrating some very big news that’s been years in the making.

American college gymnast Olivia Dunne is having a lucrative year.

Dunne, who celebrated her 20th birthday this week, has been named the top female moneymaker in American college sport, cashing in on the new rules allowing student athletes to earn money through endorsements, The New York Post reports.

Dunne, who represents Louisiana State University, is valued at $2.3 million, according to On3 Sports’ ‘Proprietary NIL Valuation Metric’, which assesses the money made through athletes using their name, image and likeness. Earning money in this fashion was previously outlawed as a result of out-dated NCAA rules designed to keep college sport as amateur-level competition.

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The metric estimates Auburn gymnast Suni Lee was ranked No. 2 with $1.5 million, followed by UConn guard Paige Bueckers at $816,000.

Dunne took to her Instagram Story to share the list — and tagged her management company, WME Sports — which is the same agency that represents Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic — as well as the official NIL Instagram account and LSU Athletics.

Olivia Dunne shared the selfie on Instagram. Photo: @livvydunne

Olivia Dunne attends the 2022 ESPY Awards. Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images.

Dunne became a millionaire at the age of 18, with help from her massive social media following and skills as an all-around gymnast with the LSU Tigers.

She has treated her social media profiles like a business since she was aged 10 — and she now has more than six million followers on TikTok and 2.2 million followers on Instagram.

She is the most followed female NCAA athlete and also has more than 30,000 Twitter followers.

Following the NCAA’s name, image, and likeness (NIL) rule change last June, Dunne began securing a number of brand deals with clothing companies, food and beverage services, and more.

Dunne signed with WME Sports for representation last August and announced her first exclusive brand partnership with the activewear brand Vuori the following month.

More deals followed with brands such as PlantFuela, a protein and supplements company, Bartleby, a study tool for college students that is owned by Barnes & Noble, TooFaced cosmetics, GrubHub, Madden/EA Sports and American Eagle.

“The NIL rule change has always been a dream of mine, and I didn’t know if it was actually ever going to happen,” Dunne exclusively told The Post last October. “I think it’s great for female student-athletes in gymnastics like myself because there is really no professional league after college, so we can capitalise on our opportunities right now. It’s such a special thing. It’s like I’m part of history, all of us student-athletes are.”

— This story originally appeared on nypost.com and has been republished with permission