Khaby Lame’s Net Worth: A Look at the Earnings and Social Media Fame of the ‘Silent Superstar’

The media has given him many sobriquets — ‘The Everyman of the Internet,’ the ‘Million Dollar Mime,’ and more — but the singular feat all agree upon is that Khaby Lame has deeply influenced the world of entertainment and written a rags-to-riches success story without literally uttering a single syllable. Not for nothing is Khaby Lame an example of the incredible power of social media that can turn otherwise unknown people into stars of high net worth in an astonishingly short time.

Born Khabane Lame on 9 March 2000 in Senegal, he moved with his family to Chivasso, near Turin in Italy when he was one year old. He would have lived a normal life, away from the spotlight he is presently under had it not been for a twist of fate that came about in March 2020.

He was working as a factory machine labourer near Turin before losing his job due to the pandemic. Not knowing what to do, Khaby Lame then jumped on the TikTok bandwagon to make videos of him dancing or watching video games while commenting in Italian.

Things were slow in the beginning, but then, as if with a stroke of genius, Lame mocked a complex life-hack video without saying a word. It was quite like the acts of comedy movie legends of the silent era, such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. But the Senegalese-Italian added his own style to it — eyes wide open and a deadpan expression on his face; his hands out palm up in exasperation with a shrug of his shoulders followed by a head nod. The trademark style is instantly recognised as Khaby Lame’s the world over.

“I thought of a way to reach as many people as possible. And the best way was not to speak,” he told CNN in an interview in 2021.

Truly, his videos started going viral, and he reportedly began amassing over one hundred thousand followers per day.

Lame has indeed reached almost the entire world with just his expressions and not a word as he takes jibes at life hackers on social media who make simple things extremely complicated.

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All about Khaby Lame: Income, TikTok fame and brand deals

What is the net worth of Khaby Lame?

Khaby Lame has a net worth of USD 20 million, according to Celebrity wealth tracker Celebrity Net Worth.

His Forbes profile indicates that his net worth was around USD 16.5 million, as of 26 September 2023, with his earnings estimated from June 2022 to September 2023. According to Forbes, he charged around USD 750,000 per post for endorsements on TikTok and Instagram. At the time, he was 11th on Forbes Top Creators list.

Khaby Lame: The most-followed personality on TikTok

TikTok, a popular video-sharing platform owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance, is the biggest contributor to the fame and net worth that Khaby Lame acquired just about two years from when he started posting his iconic videos on the platform.

On 22 June 2022, he surpassed Charli D’Amelio, an American media personality whose TikTok dance videos have made her a star, as the most followed creator on TikTok with 142.1 million followers. The same year, he was included among Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe honorees.

Cut to 30 June 2024, Lame maintained his position with 162.6 million followers, while D’Amelio held the second spot with 155.4 million followers.

MrBeast (96 million followers), Bella Poarch (94.2 million followers) and Addison Rae (88.8 million followers) complete the top five most-followed people on TikTok.

He is among the top creators on Instagram

Khaby Lame’s fame is largely associated with TikTok, perhaps because of the fact that it is more oriented towards creators. But he is also very popular on Instagram — the Meta-owned American social media giant. Unlike TikTok, where the most-followed people are creators like Lame, celebrities and world leaders are among the most-followed people on Instagram.

Yet, Lame also leads the five most-followed TikTok personalities in terms of his follower count on Instagram. The following is how they stand (as of 08 October 2024):

Khaby Lame: 81.4 million
MrBeast: 60.6 million
Charli D’Amelio: 43.3 million
Addison Rae: 34.5 million
Bella Poarch: 12.1 million

Brands with which Khaby Lame has partnered

His social media popularity has granted Khaby Lame the status of an international icon. This is why many top brands made a beeline to sign him up for fat endorsement deals.

According to a 2022 report by Fortune, Hugo Boss (now BOSS) paid him USD 450,000 just to walk the ramp at the Milan Fashion Show. He walked for the brand for the first time in 2021 and has since followed it up over the years.

 

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A post shared by Khabane Lame (@khaby00)

In June 2022, he launched his first-ever capsule collection, Boss x Khaby, with the brand in Milan.

Binance is another major company that joined hands with Lame. The world-famous mime was announced as the new brand ambassador of the cryptocurrency exchange in June 2022 to “increase Web3 awareness and adoption.”

At the time Binance said that fans can expect “exclusive Khaby Lame NFT collections” and “bite-sized crypto Education” in Lame’s instantly recognisable style. Both BOSS and Binance are specifically highlighted on Lame’s Instagram profile.

Among the other brands he has endorsed are Airbnb and EY3K0N comics.

Rubbing shoulders with top stars

Interestingly, Khaby Lame has often had some of the world’s most famous celebrities as guests on his social media accounts or endorsed their works.

Among the top actors who have appeared on Lame’s TikTok or Instagram account are Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise and Jason Momoa.

 

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A post shared by Khabane Lame (@khaby00)

Lame has promoted some of their movies, notably Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023), on his platforms. Of course, these were promotional videos which means that Lame must have been paid a few hundred thousand dollars for the posts.

He has also appeared with some of the biggest names in the world of sports. These include a comedy sketch with tennis legend Novak Djokovic, a quick meeting with football icon Lionel Messi (of whom Khaby is a fan), while the latter was at Paris Saint-Germain, a hilarious penalty kick video with David Beckham and a special football match featuring Brazilian greats Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and others.

His collaborations also include a Pepsi endorsement with American basketball great Shaquille O’Neal. He also appeared at the Grammy 2024 ceremony with Trevor Noah, delivering a characteristic comedy spot in his quintessential style.

 

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A post shared by Khabane Lame (@khaby00)

He was also paid USD 750,000 by a “major Hollywood studio” for a TikTok, reported Fortune.

Khaby Lame’s movies and shows

His career outside of social media includes his debut short film, I Am Khabane (2023). The film, which premiered at the Taormina Film Festival in Italy, documents his life before and after he found fame with TikTok. He has been on the jury of the 13th season of Italia’s Got Talent since 2023.

Lame made his big screen debut with a non-speaking cameo in Bad Boys: Ride or Die, one of the highest-grossing movies of 2024, opposite Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Smith has also appeared on Lame’s social media posts. He also appeared in the film’s promotions through videos such as the one below.

 

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A post shared by Khabane Lame (@khaby00)

Soon after, he entered the world of reality TV with the unscripted series, Khaby Is Coming to America (2024). In the three-episode limited series, the Senegalese-Italian visits Miami, New Orleans and New York City during which he meets Celebrity guests Beckham, Alicia Keys, Jon Batiste and Steven A. Smith apart from local iNFLuencers.

What does Khaby Lame own?

Until August 2022, Khaby Lame was solely a Senegalese citizen who lived in Milan. His Italian citizenship was granted in Chivasso almost two years after he hit international fame.

Lame has a company, Iron Corporation, which he co-founded with his manager Alessandro Riggio. According to Fortune, the company acts as a creative agency overseeing the social presence and monetisation of its clients, which include actors, athletes and other creators.

The report also said that he does not own sports cars or yachts — something that many others of his stature do. He is thinking about long-term wealth, investing in real estate and software companies along with restaurant businesses.

He shares his Milan residence with Riggio and owns a house in Los Angeles.

(Hero and Featured image: HUGO BOSS Corporate/@HUGOBOSS via X)

This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Kuala Lumpur