US EditionWorld’s biggest TikToker from Senegal sells company in $900m deal
Khaby Lame sold 49% of Step Distinctive Limited in a $975 million all-stock deal with Rich Sparkle, aiming to generate $4 billion in annual sales via AI and global commerce.
- On 23 January 2026, Khaby Lame sold a partial stake in Step Distinctive Limited to U.S.-listed Rich Sparkle Holdings, folding the company into a strategic partnership to scale global commercial operations.
- The deal aims to transform creator influence into industrial-scale business by pursuing premium brands in beauty, fragrance and apparel through Step Distinctive Limited.
- Rich Sparkle and operating partners will hold exclusive global rights for 36 months and partner with Anhui Xiaoheiyang Network Technology Co., Ltd. to support e-commerce and multilingual livestreams, rolling out in the United States, Middle East and Southeast Asia.
- Lame gains an equity role as a controlling shareholder in Rich Sparkle, and the agreement permits development of an AI-powered digital twin for regulated use of his likeness.
- The deal signals a broader move to platform-driven creator commerce as Rich Sparkle projects the integrated commercial structure could generate more than $4 billion in annual sales.
82 Articles
82 Articles
Getting deported by Trump can’t stop top influencer Khaby Lame from notching a $975 million deal—including the rights to his AI avatar
Khaby Lame started posting videos on TikTok in 2020 as a coping mechanism after being laid off from his factory machine labor job at the onset of the pandemic. In videos of him silently doing things like applying butter to a pan, his deadpan humor gained him quick fame and earned him the label the “Gen Z Charlie Chaplin.” Lame kept at it, and in just six years, the 25-year-old built a massive following, becoming the most popular creator on TikTo…
Getting deported by Trump can't stop top influencer Khaby Lame from notching a $975 million deal—including the rights to his AI avatar
The deal authorizes the creation of multilingual and multi-version content of the TIkTok star, and is expected to generate $4 billion in annual sales.
TikTok's Biggest Star Khaby Lame Sells Brand Rights For Nearly $1 Billion
By Kimberly Wilson ·Updated January 29, 2026 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… Khaby Lame has officially entered the upper echelon of content creator wealth.The 25-year-old Italian content creator sold a stake in his company Step Distinctive Limited for $975 million to Rich Sparkle Holdings, a Hong Kong financial firm listed on Nasdaq. For context, that’s more than most people make in several lifetimes of actually talking. Lame has 160 mi…
TikTok Star Khaby Lame Authorises Development of His ‘AI Twin’, Sells His Step Distinctive Limited Company for USD 975 Million | 👍 LatestLY
Khaby Lame has signed a landmark USD 975 million deal selling his firm to Hong Kong’s Rich Sparkle while retaining creative control. The partnership will develop an authorised AI digital twin using his face, voice and behaviour to run global, multilingual e-commerce content nonstop, signalling a new era of institutional, AI-driven creator brands. 👍 TikTok Star Khaby Lame Authorises Development of His ‘AI Twin’, Sells His Step Distinctive Limite…
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