25-Year-Old TikTok Star Khaby Lame Sells His Media Company for Nearly $1B
Khabane “Khaby” Lame is the most viral creator on TikTok, with 160.4 million followers and more than 2.5 billion likes. Put a price on that level of popularity, and it comes in just shy of $1 billion. Lame, the 25-year-old Senegalese-Italian creator known for his wordless but comedic reactions to other videos, has sold his media company, Step Distinctive Limited, in an all-stock deal worth $975 million to Rich Sparkle Holdings, a Hong Kong–based holding company traded on Nasdaq.
Under the deal, Rich Sparkle will bring in an unnamed strategic partner who gets exclusive global operating rights to Lame’s brand for 36 months. Those brand assets include his TikTok Shop, live streams, short-form video programming, brand deals, and even an A.I. digital twin designed to help spread his content across languages and produce live streams in different time zones. Lame has signed off on his Face ID, Voice ID, and behavioral models to inform the A.I. asset.
Rich Sparkle views Lame as a uniquely lucrative property because of the global reach of his content. His comedy eschews language barriers by relying on physical humor rather than words. The holding company estimates that commercializing Lame’s audience engagement could generate more than $4 billion in annual revenue, according to a press release. The transaction gave Lame 75 million shares of Rich Sparkle, making him a controlling shareholder. Prior to the sale, he owned 49 percent of Step Distinctive.
Lame’s rise to fame began during the COVID-19 pandemic. After being laid off from his factory job, he began posting content on social media from his home in Italy. Lame’s early videos were primarily dancing and video gaming—without him speaking a word. While the creator maintained his silent shtick, his videos went viral quickly, earning him a large fan base on TikTok.
Ironically, as Lame became famous, he began speaking quite a bit outside of his videos. Lame has secured deals with major brands like Hugo Boss and has been invited to attend global events, including the Cannes Film Festival. He launched Step Distinctive Limited in 2022 to manage his global brand and commercial activities.
Lame’s partnership with Rich Sparkle is one of the largest in the influencer economy, and it goes far deeper than the typical single-brand deals struck by social media stars. It calls to mind MrBeast, who has evolved from a YouTuber into a serial entrepreneur with brands like the chocolate line Feastables and the TV show Feast Games. MrBeast himself, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is estimated to be worth $2.6 billion.
“The move signals a shift from one-off brand deals to a structured, exclusive, full-chain, platform-style commercialization system—designed not merely to monetize attention, but to industrialize it,” Rich Sparkle said in a press release.
The holding company’s strategic partner has signed deals with more than 20 other influencers, whose combined followings reach tens of millions. This includes Chinese creators like Crazy Little Brother Yang on platforms such as Douyin (China’s version of TikTok) and YouTube.