In the Shadow of Khaby Lame's Deal, Marketers Face Hard Questions About Influence and Value

In the shadow of Khaby Lame's deal, marketers face hard questions about influence and value

Anyone in marketing gawking at the near-billion price tag attached to TikTok creator Khaby Lame and his deal with Rich Sparkle Holdings isn’t really looking at innovation. They’re witnessing faith. Faith in what this industry has collectively agreed to let numbers represent.  Because that $975 million valuation doesn’t seem to be rooted in the nuts and bolts of Lame’s company Step Distinctive Limited’s financials so much as the gravitational pul…

TikTok King Khaby Lame’s $6.6B New Partnership Sparks Suspicion. Is His Billion-Dollar Deal Fake?

TikTok superstar Khaby Lame’s nearly $1 billion deal with Hong Kong-based Rich Sparkle Holdings (ANPA) catapulted the company’s valuation to $16.3 billion, momentarily making Lame’s stake worth $6.6 billion. The deal, announced in January, involved Rich Sparkle acquiring Lame’s Step Distinctive Limited in an all-stock transaction, with plans to build a “full-chain, platform-style commercialization system” around the social media star, including …

TikToker Khaby Lame sells stake in business for $975m

Khaby Lame, the most followed creator on TikTok, has sold a controlling stake in his business – Step Distinctive Limited – for $975m. News of the deal with Rich Sparkle Holdings comes just three months after Lame stole the show on the launch night at the 2025 Web Summit in Lisbon. Lame has 160 million followers on TikTok and the deal is seen as the biggest attempt yet to turn creator influence into a full-scale commercial platform. How a TikToke…

Senegalese comedian Khaby Lame’s leap into billionaire territory sparks global buzz

Khaby Lame, the Senegalese-born comedian whose silent, expressive videos turned him into the most-followed human on TikTok, is now at the centre of one of the market’s most talked-about deals.A nearly $1 billion all-stock transaction involving his company, Step Distinctive Limited, and Hong Kong-based Rich Sparkle Holdings briefly pushed the firm’s valuation to $16.3 billion and placed Lame’s personal stake at about $6.6 billion on paper. The su…