Cross-border e-commerce Hugo.comWith 160 million followers on TikTok, "Khaby Lame" will hold his first live streaming shopping show in the US TikTok Shop in February, with San Yang Group obtaining its exclusive commercial operation rights.
Signals that top TikTok creators are systematically entering live commerce are becoming clearer. Recently, multiple industry sources revealed that Khaby Lame, the TikTok creator with the largest number of followers, will hold his first live streaming shopping show for the US TikTok Shop market in early February in Singapore, with another global top creator MrBeast attending for interaction. Related recruitment materials show that the project will be supported by high-intensity traffic investment, with a budget expected to reach millions of dollars. More significant than the live streaming itself is the operator behind it—the exclusive operation rights of this show were obtained by San Yang Group, whose most influential personal IP "Xiao Yang Ge" is Douyin's first broadcaster with over 100 million followers. As an institution that has achieved phenomenal results in the domestic live commerce field, San Yang is accelerating its transformation to overseas markets after compliance rectification and business adjustments in 2024. This direct entry into the commercialization system of global top IPs is seen as an important attempt to restart its growth curve and marks the deeper participation of Chinese live commerce teams in the commercial operation of global content assets. If anyone can be named as the short video creator with the highest global recognition in the past few years, "Khaby Lame" would definitely be on the list. Khaby Lame, born in Senegal and raised in Italy, began posting silent reaction videos on TikTok during the pandemic, using minimalist physical movements to mock complex and inefficient "life hacks," quickly becoming one of the few truly globally disseminated creators. As of now, "Khaby Lame" has a total of about 360 million followers across various platforms, with more than 160 million on TikTok alone, and his video views are almost always in the millions to tens of millions. He has been selected for Fortune's 40 Under 40 list, Forbes' 30 Under 30 list, and Forbes' Top Creators list, and was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in February 2025. These experiences have moved him from a "internet celebrity" to a global IP with public influence and long-term brand value. This content advantage is ultimately reflected in the pricing of the capital market. In January 2026, Rich Sparkle Holdings, a Nasdaq-listed company in the United States, disclosed through official announcements and filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it will acquire Khaby Lame's core operating company Step Distinctive Limited through a all-stock transaction, with a valuation of approximately 900 million to 975 million USD. After the transaction is completed, Rich Sparkle Holdings will obtain the global exclusive commercial rights of the "Khaby Lame" brand for the initial 36 months, and the business model will be upgraded from past sporadic cooperation to an integrated platform covering content, e-commerce, and distribution. What really caused a stir in the industry was not just the nearly 1 billion USD transaction itself, but the destination of the commercial operation rights after the transaction. After the acquisition, Rich Sparkle Holdings immediately reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Anhui Xiao Hei Yang Network Technology Co., Ltd. (the core company within the San Yang Group system). According to public English media and disclosure information, the San Yang system obtained the "full-link exclusive commercial operation rights" of Khaby Lame for the next 36 months, covering multiple key business links including: Participate in formulating Khaby Lame's commercial content direction and brand cooperation strategy Responsible for global market traffic placement and growth execution Responsible for his live streaming shopping and store operations on platforms such as TikTok Shop Build and execute cross-border supply chain, performance and related service systems From Khaby Lame's perspective, this cooperation means that his business path has undergone a substantial transformation: from past brand endorsements and content cooperation to a long-term monetization model centered on live commerce. From San Yang's perspective, this cooperation is a key move in its overseas strategy. After a period of adjustment in domestic business, San Yang is continuously increasing its overseas layout, but both broadcaster incubation and content localization require a long cycle. Cooperating with a global top IP like Khaby Lame is equivalent to directly obtaining a mature, stable, and cross-market adapted traffic entrance, significantly shortening the verification path for entering the US and other key markets. More importantly, this cooperation is not a one-time project, but a systematic layout around Khaby Lame's global commercial development in the next three years. This also makes this cooperation not just a simple "endorsement", nor just "holding a few live broadcasts", but a long-term business reconstruction centered around global top content assets. In fact, San Yang's overseas layout has been laid out early. In 2023, its overseas organization Three Sheep Network was officially established, and it completed its initial establishment in the Southeast Asian market by setting up a warehouse in Singapore. Currently, San Yang is focusing on deepening its core markets in Southeast Asia, advancing localized operations in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam. It has not only set up local offices in Vietnam but also achieved localization leadership from product selection to live broadcast rhythm, with the Chinese team focusing on supply chain and strategic support. At the same time, its overseas territory has successfully extended to Mexico and Japan, and it intends to move into emerging markets such as Brazil. The initial intention of "earning foreigners' money" by Xiao Yang Ge is gradually being realized through this series of solid actions. In San Yang's overseas battle lineup, there are already familiar figures to domestic audiences. In April last year, Xiao Yang Ge's apprentice "Yellow of the Traffic Lights" (Xiao Huang) switched to TikTok, quickly gaining fans with his signature "cooking dance" and other goofy performances, not only accumulating hundreds of thousands of fans (with 468,700 TikTok followers by the end of 2025), but his live broadcast room also onceranked first on the platform's daily chart for three consecutive days, with a single performance reward income exceeding 100,000 USD, successfully replicating the domestically proven entertainment live broadcast model to the overseas stage, providing valuable experience for San Yang's overseas localization exploration.
However, in the following days, apart from "Yellow of the Traffic Lights" (Xiao Huang), San Yang does not seem to have produced results that amaze the market in terms of broadcaster incubation or live broadcast room explosive orders. And in the big game that San Yang Group is playing globally, it has intentionally or unintentionally "ignored"
