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 million TikTok followers, making him the platform’s most-followed creator. The all-stock deal gives Rich Sparkle exclusive rights to Lame’s brand for 36 months, which includes his TikTok Shop, livestream operations, video content, and endorsement deals. Lame received 75 million ordinary shares in the transaction.
SEC filings show Lame owned 49% of Step Distinctive Limited before the sale. He’ll stay on to lead the company and becomes a controlling shareholder of Rich Sparkle. “Khaby Lame’s fan-based commercialization could generate more than $4 billion in annual sales,” Rich Sparkle Holdings said in a filing.
The deal ranks this among the biggest in creator economy history, so when we use the word “unprecedented,” it’s truly an understatement. Lame’s 360 million followers across all platforms help explain why investors are betting nearly a billion dollars on a guy who built his empire without saying a word.
Part of the deal involves creating an AI version of Lame using his face, voice, and mannerisms. The digital twin will produce content in multiple languages and operate across different time zones, essentially multiplying his online presence.
Now if you’re wondering how far he’s come, Lame’s path to this moment started in 2020 when he lost his factory job in Chivasso, Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Living in government housing with his parents, he started posting videos on TikTok. By August 2021, just 17 months later, he became the second person ever and the first Europe-based creator to reach 100 million followers on the platform. Makes you regret not posting your content, right?
He built his following through silent comedy videos that mock overly complicated life hacks. The wordless format works across cultures without translation, which explains his massive international appeal. He’d watch someone turn a simple task into something ridiculously complicated, then show the obvious solution without saying anything. The shrug and hand gesture at the end became his thing.
The Senegalese-Italian creator expanded beyond viral clips, signing a multi-year deal with Hugo Boss in 2022 and launched a capsule collection with the brand. That same year, he earned spots on both Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists. He’s partnered with Airbnb, appeared in the 2024 film “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” and created his own comedy series “Khaby Is Coming to America” for Tubi. He also worked with Fortnite and crypto exchange Binance.
In 2022, Qatar National Bank brought him on as brand ambassador for the FIFA World Cup. Forbes ranked him 10th on their 2025 Top Creators list with estimated earnings of $20 million and an average engagement rate of 0.86%.
Rich Sparkle plans to expand Lame’s brand into beauty, fragrance, and apparel. The company will roll out co-branded products and collaborations using his global reach. Step Distinctive Limited, which Lame created to centralize his merchandise and brand partnerships, continues under his leadership while Rich Sparkle executes its three-year monetization plan.
The transaction puts Lame in rare company among digital creators who’ve converted social media fame into substantial business deals. Four years ago, Lame was unemployed and living with his parents. Now he’s a controlling shareholder of a publicly traded company. Not bad for someone whose entire brand is based on not talking.