Khaby Lame rose to global fame during the COVID-19 pandemic after losing his factory job in Italy and turning to TikTok, where his silent, deadpan videos quickly went viral. Bruno de Carvalho/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Khabane “Khaby” Lame is the most viral creator on TikTok, with 160.4 million followers and more than 2.5 billion likes. Put a price on that level of popularity, and it comes in just shy of $1 billion. Lame, the 25-year-old Senegalese-Italian creator known for his wordless but comedic reactions to other videos, has sold his media company, Step Distinctive Limited, in an all-stock deal worth $975 million to Rich Sparkle Holdings, a Hong Kong–based holding company traded on Nasdaq.

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