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 TikTok with more than 160 million followers on the platform. The last seven months have been downright Chaplinesque, as he saw himself deported from the U.S. and sealing a nearly billion-dollar business deal for his business and AI likeness.
According to a public SEC filing, Lame has sold his company Step Distinctive Limited—which manages his brand and commercial activities—to Rich Sparkle Holdings, a Hong Kong-based holding company, in an all-stock deal worth $975 million. That includes access to Lame’s livestream and short-video commerce, TikTok Shop, brand endorsements, and ad productions—and the commercial development of an AI digital twin, which authorizes use of the creator’s image, voice, and behavior to generate multilingual and original, multi-version content. Rich Sparkle expects the partnership to net $4 billion in annual sales.
“This is not just an equity acquisition, but a revolution in the global content e-commerce model,” Rich Sparkle wrote in a statement about the deal.
The deal comes just seven months after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained the Senegalese-Italian influencer at Harry Reid International Airport. Lame was allowed to leave the country without a deportation order after arriving in the U.S. last April. Lame “overstayed the terms of his visa,” according to an ICE spokesperson.
But that hasn’t dampened the TikToker’s hot streak. Born in Senegal, Khaby Lame—whose legal name is Seringe Khabane Lame—has skyrocketed to fame for his witty visual humor and sarcastic reaction videos in which he rarely ever speaks. The deal positions Lame as one of the highest-earning creators to get their start on the video-streaming platform as TikTok stars join the ranks of some of the highest net-worth celebrities.
The dawn of the AI influencer
While Michael Jordan and LeBron James had to physically show up to photo shoots and appear in commercials to fulfill their brand deals with Nike, Lame doesn’t have to lift a finger to fulfill his end of the deal with Rich Sparkle. By licensing his behavioral models, the TikToker is essentially (and fittingly) a silent partner in the brand deal.
The AI avatar is a fast-growing marketing tool that is digitizing the very persona creators make of themselves. Though the trend isn’t limited to social media influencers. In 2022 golf legend Jack Nicklaus, who is now 86, partnered with Soul Machines to create “Digital Jack,” an AI version of his 38-year-old self. LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has also dabbled with the emerging technology, posting on LinkedIn in 2024 a conversation between he and his AI-generated self. Meta launched celebrity AI chatbots in 2023, including stars like Tom Brady and Kendall Jenner, though scrapped the plan in less than a year after it failed to generate interest among users.
Other industries are banking on AI personas, though with mixed reactions. Talent agencies last year expressed interest in signing AI actor Tilly Norwood, sparking outrage among Hollywood celebrities yet wooing studios who found Norwood a potentially profitable venture. Fashion brands are also cashing in on AI avatars. Levi’s in 2023 announced a partnership with tech startup Lalaland, testing AI-generated fashion models to enhance representation across model sizes, skin colors, and ages.
However, Lame’s deal with Rich Sparkle marks one of the first times a TikTok creator has licensed their brand to become an AI digital avatar in a deal of this magnitude. Rich Sparkle is betting the deal will scale across global markets.
“Industry sources suggest this structure resembles a platform battle plan more than an influencer network arrangement,” Rich Sparkle said in a press release about the deal.
