TikTok star Khaby Lame signs $1.2 billion deal to monetise global fan base
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Senegalese influencer and content creator Khaby Lame has 160 million followers on TikTok.
PHOTO: AFP
Khaby Lame, the world’s biggest TikToker, partnered with Rich Sparkle Holdings to transform his 360 million social-media followers into a commercial venture.
The US$975 million (S$1.2 billion) deal gives the Nasdaq-listed financial services firm 36 months of exclusive global rights to Lame’s brand, moving him from influencer to “equity-backed creator”, according to a company statement.
Lame has 160 million followers on TikTok, compared with 156 million for Charli d’Amelio, who ranks as the second-highest popular person on the platform.
Lame, who’s risen to fame with wordless videos simplifying everyday life hacks, has built a global following of 360 million people on TikTok and Instagram, according to the statement.
The commercialisation of his fan base is expected to generate more than US$4 billion in annual sales, the company said.
The deal includes the partial sale of Lame’s Step Distinctive to Hong Kong-based Rich Sparkle, which plans to grow the 25-year-old Italian-Senegalese national’s influence through brand collaboration and co-branded products in beauty, fragrance and apparel.
It will also feature an AI version of Lame, using his expressions, voice and gestures to create multilingual social media content.
Before signing up Lame, Rich Sparkle’s main focus was financial printing and corporate services primarily for listed companies and institutional clients in Hong Kong.
