Khaby Lame, the world’s most-followed TikToker, just landed a nearly billion‑dollar deal with Rich Sparkle Holdings, a financial firm listed on Nasdaq. The agreement turns the 25-year-old’s global fan base into the main driver of a new creator business. 

The deal centers on Lame’s company, Step Distinctive Limited, which oversees his brand, intellectual property and commercial activities. Rich Sparkle announced last week that it completed the acquisition of Step Distinctive Limited in an all-stock transaction valued at $975 million. 

The agreement gives Rich Sparkle exclusive global rights to Lame’s brand. That means the company will effectively become the operating engine behind Lame’s TikTok Shop, livestream commerce, his brand partnerships, physical products and future licensing. According to Bloomberg, the company plans to expand Lame’s influence with brand collaborations and products in apparel, beauty and fragrance. 

Rich Sparkle’s expectation is that commercializing Lame’s fan base will generate more than $4 billion in annual sales, according to the announcement. Lame, who grew in popularity with videos mocking overly complicated “life hacks” and situations, has over 160 million TikTok followers, making him the most popular person on the app. Across platforms, including Instagram, he reaches roughly 360 million people. 

Lame’s brand is uniquely universal given his signature content is almost entirely wordless. He offers short, silent, comedic reactions. That format has already allowed him to transcend language barriers and national markets. 

One of the most striking elements of the partnership is the plan to build an AI “digital twin” of Lame. He has authorized the use of his face, voice and behavioral patterns so that Rich Sparkle can generate content that looks and sounds like him. The AI version will post content in multiple languages, across time zones, effectively letting the Khaby Lame persona interact with fans and markets around the clock. 

The deal comes at a moment when the creator economy is already worth $250 billion — and only getting bigger. Goldman Sachs forecasts that its size could nearly double to $480 billion by 2027. According to Epidemic Sound’s Future of the Creator Economy Report, released last year, 91% of all creators are using AI in the creation process. 

Most creators still rely heavily on brand deals and ad revenue to make money. However, Lame’s transaction proves that it can be lucrative when a single creator’s following and intellectual property are packaged together. The deal represents one of the highest financial benchmarks ever set for the global creator economy. 

Lame was born in Senegal and raised in Italy. He began making short videos in March 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, after getting laid off from his job as a factory machine operator. At the time of writing, he had 2.6 billion likes on TikTok. 

Sign up for the Entrepreneur Daily newsletter to get the news and resources you need to know today to help you run your business better. Get it in your inbox.