Wealth Led U.S. Instagram Growth in October With 3.5M Followers

Digital media brand Wealth gained 3.5 million Instagram followers in October, the largest monthly increase of any U.S. account, according to HypeAuditor data for October 2026. The account closed the month at 19.3 million followers, overtaking far bigger names driven by dated events.

The top 10 reflected a month crowded with scheduled catalysts. A Victoria's Secret fashion show, a Tesla Roadster unveiling, a Michigan Senate race and a WWE microdrama premiere all landed within October. Two individual creators with no confirmed catalyst also made the list.

Which accounts grew fastest?

Victoria's Secret ranked second with +2.8 million followers, ending October at 79.6 million. The brand held its 2026 Fashion Show in Los Angeles on October 18, featuring returning Angels and a live music lineup, streamed simultaneously on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.

President Donald J. Trump placed third at +1.9 million, reaching 46.4 million followers. Tesla followed at +1.8 million, closing at 11.4 million after unveiling its redesigned second-generation Roadster at an October 15 livestream event in Texas.

MrBeast, the account of YouTube creator Jimmy Donaldson, added +1.0 million followers to reach 91.1 million. His main YouTube channel ended October with 524 million subscribers.

Who filled the lower half of the ranking?

• WASTED (@wasted): +973.7K, October total 24.1M. A meme and pop-culture aggregator operating as its own media brand.
• SunshineNate (@sunshinenateastro): +843.1K, October total 2.2M. An astronomy creator and Museum of Science Digital Science Communication Fellow who posts telescope and stargazing content. He reports a combined audience above 4 million across TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.
• Laurah Wheaton (@preppedbylaurah): +826.5K, October total 1.7M. A Phoenix-based private chef publishing meal-prep recipes on Substack, appearing for a second straight month after a September breakout built on meal-prep Reels.
• Dr. Abdul El-Sayed (@abdulelsayed): +798.5K, October total 2.5M. The Democratic nominee in Michigan's U.S. Senate race, whom the Associated Press projected the winner on November 4.
• ReelShort (@reelshortapp): +756.2K, October total 15.8M. The platform premiered "Agent of Shadows," a microdrama starring WWE Superstars including Drew McIntyre, on October 23.

What does this change for marketers?

The pattern separates confirmed event-driven spikes from unexplained growth. Victoria's Secret, Tesla, ReelShort and Dr. El-Sayed are established names with documented October activity: a fashion show, a product unveiling, a microdrama premiere and a Senate race.

MrBeast is an established name with no confirmed Instagram catalyst. Wealth and WASTED are media brands, not individuals. That leaves SunshineNate and Laurah Wheaton as the list's two smallest accounts, at 2.2 million and 1.7 million followers respectively. Neither has an identified label, brand or dated event behind their gains. SunshineNate's Instagram following has roughly doubled since June.

For practitioners, the ranking shows two distinct paths into October's top tier. Event-anchored brands converted dated, cross-platform moments into follower gains measured in the millions. The two smallest creators grew at roughly half the rate of the leaders without any documented catalyst, and their totals remain below 2.5 million followers.

November's ranking will test whether the event-driven accounts — Victoria's Secret, Tesla, ReelShort — hold their new followers without a scheduled spike, and whether the two creators' unexplained momentum continues.