"If you give me a chance to complain, that’s my love language, but I won’t do that."
The creation of this article included the use of AI and was edited by human content creators. Read more on our AI policy here.
The business of influence just entered uncharted territory.
Khaby Lame, the 25-year-old Senegalese-born creator who stands as the most followed person on TikTok with 160.4 million followers, has sold the company managing his global brand in a deal that goes far beyond traditional celebrity endorsements.
Step Distinctive Limited, Lame’s brand management company, has been acquired by Hong Kong-based, publicly traded holding company Rich Sparkle for a reported $975 million, per public SEC filing.
Lame will continue to lead the company with a controlling share. Prior to the deal, Lame held a 49% stake in Step Distinctive.
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But the headline figure only tells part of the story.
As part of Khaby Lame's deal, he authorized the use of his “Face ID, Voice ID, and behavioral models for AI Digital Twin development” for the creation of livestream e-commerce content, per the company’s press release.
Rich Sparkle projects the deal could generate $4 billion in annual sales—a figure that raises immediate questions about how, exactly, one creator’s likeness can scale to that magnitude.
The answer lies in the technology itself.
Understanding Digital Twin Technology and Its Commercial Implications
The term “digital twin” has circulated in industrial and engineering contexts for years, but its application to human identity represents a fundamentally different proposition.
According to IBM, a digital twin is “a virtual representation of a physical object or system that uses real-time data to accurately reflect its real-world counterpart’s behavior, performance and conditions.”
When applied to a human being, this definition takes on remarkable complexity.
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The three components Lame has licensed—Face ID, Voice ID, and behavioral models—constitute the building blocks necessary to create an AI-generated version of himself that could theoretically appear in content without his physical presence.
- Face ID technology captures and replicates facial geometry, expressions, and micro-movements.
- Voice ID synthesizes speech patterns, tone, cadence, and vocal characteristics.
- Behavioral models, perhaps the most sophisticated element, attempt to replicate how a person moves, reacts, and presents themselves.
Combined, these components could enable the creation of synthetic video content featuring Lame that audiences might struggle to distinguish from authentic footage.
For the tech-curious observer, the implications extend well beyond one creator’s commercial arrangement. This deal establishes a template—and a price point—for licensing human identity to AI systems.
The Business Case: Why Investors Are Watching Closely
Rich Sparkle’s press release identified two specific advantages that investors are monitoring in this arrangement.
- Higher content capacity ceiling, reducing dependence on human schedules
- Standardized, replicable content assets, enabling matrix-style scaling and expansion
Traditional influencer marketing faces an inherent constraint: human creators can only produce so much content. They need sleep, have personal commitments, and can only appear in one place at one time.
A digital twin, by contrast, operates without these limitations.
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The technology could theoretically generate content around the clock, across multiple platforms, in multiple languages, simultaneously.
Imagine Lame’s digital twin hosting livestream shopping events in different time zones, each tailored to local audiences, all running concurrently. The economics of this model differ dramatically from paying a creator for individual appearances or campaigns.
From Factory Worker to Digital Pioneer: The Khaby Lame Story
The scale of this transaction becomes even more striking when considered against Lame’s personal trajectory.
In a 2025 interview with People, Lame reflected on his path to global recognition.
“Before TikTok, I was working in a factory. I had a lot of different jobs,” he said. “I was helping support my family — three little brothers, one older brother and my parents. Then my world changed completely. It’s a whole different life now.”
Lame’s content approach—wordless, reaction-based videos that gently mock overly complicated life hacks—transcended language barriers and cultural boundaries.
His rise coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, a period when global audiences were particularly receptive to lighthearted content.
“When I discovered TikTok during COVID, I was making videos for fun. It was a way for all of us to step outside of all the things that were going on in the world,” he added in the interview. “I was just there trying to make people laugh. It wasn’t something that I expected to be my form of work in the future.”
When asked about his first major purchase following his success, Lame’s answer reflected his origins.
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“The first thing I did with the money I’ve made is buy a bigger house for my family. We’re a family of seven. It’s a big family,” he added. “I don’t like to spend a lot of money, but for this, my family has always done so much for me.”
