Khaby Lame was born in Senegal in 2000 and moved to Italy with his parents when he was a year old. He has spent most of his life in public housing.
Two years ago, Khaby lost his job as a factory worker.
Today he is one of the faces of a major rebranding by luxury retailer Hugo Boss and allegedly worth $5 million.
So how did he accomplish all of this in less than two years?
By posting videos to TikTok.
At first, like a lot of TikTokers, Khaby created clips of himself dancing, watching video games, or doing comedy stunts. He then began making fun of the life-hack videos that flood social media platforms — reacting to them with a wordless shrug or a look of exasperation — and he struck a chord.
He now has more than 130 million followers on TikTok, the second most of any TikTokers.
Apparently, the videos caught the eye of someone at Hugo Boss. Soon after, Khaby made his runway debut during Milan Fashion Week, with the outing translating to 4 billion impressions across a variety of social media platforms within four days. He then signed a multi-year partnership deal with Boss that will also include a co-designed capsule collection.
While he’s not yet an Italian citizen, he speaks fluent Italian and said he considers the country home. He’s applied for citizenship and as he awaits the process to go through, he said it’s been hard for him to travel to events in the United States and other countries on his Senegalese passport.
Here is a small sampling of his TikTok videos (most are less than 30 seconds each):
Sources:
*image from D1SoftballNews
Good for him!
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I agree – a little bit of work and a little bit of luck…
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Some of those videos are pretty funny. I’m pretty impressed with how much money he’s made at such a young age. He wasted no time with TikTok.
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The car one cracked me up, for that is my husband trying to get in my “gold nugget!” LOL! He does move the seat back, he has too!
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Poor Brad. I have the same experience with my wife, who has shrunk down in size to 4’11”. If I adjust the seat to accommodate me, then forget to adjust it back, she gets mad at me. So sometimes I just scrunch in there.
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Haha! Its not, “Poor Brad!” If I use his car I have to pull the seat the whole way up, so we are even.
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And then when he gets into his car, his kneecaps bang against the steering wheel. Poor Brad.
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and the car probably starts honking…
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Yep, and then all the neighbors turn on their porch lights.
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it’s a whole ripple effect thing…
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it’s all about cooperation…
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LOL! Exactly
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π
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If I have to drive my wife’s car, I don’t adjust it, even thought it is a little tight. She will adjust my car so that she can reach everything, but it is easy enough to get it back where it belongs…
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Some cars have electrical seat adjustments, with memory, so that all you have to do is press a button and your seat returns to the way you had previously adjusted it.
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I’ll probably be ready to buy a car like that in about 20 years…
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I think that video probably hits close to home for a lot of couples!
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π
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He found a niche and ran with it; I’m happy for him…
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What a story. A funny giy. He should feel proud!
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it is quite an accomplishment!
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I’d say the car one is his best. Pretty hysterical that he has become a multi-millionaire from this. It’s funny and sad at the same time, considering the critical jobs people do for far less money. I suppose the same can is true for professional athletes. At the same time, I can’t begrudge the guy for his creativity.
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it is strange what gets valued, but you can’t fault him for seeing the opportunity and going for it…
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his creativity and ability to find humor in life has earned him a new job
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he’s found his niche…
I just don’t know if he has other people make the first part of the video, and then he comes in and pokes fun at them, or if those are other people’s videos that he makes fun of.
I know the Queen one was not one of his, but I’m curious about many of the others…
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I do find his videos quite humorous and entertaining. He deserves everything he is getting. Good to see that just being yourself can pay off so well.
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yes, I am excited for him as well. A combination of work, creativity, and luck helped to get him this gig at Boss…
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OMG. Thanks for sharing these. I think he’s addictive. I wonder why some of the original ones posted their videos.
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they are funny. and I couldn’t tell if the first part of some of those videos were also created by him, using the people. Or id he just found those videos on youtube and made fun of them…
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When my grandchildren (10 and 12) were over yesterday, they each had a banana for morning tea. I mentioned the banana video to them. They knew exactly who and what I was talking about and then proceeded to show me many more – not as funny as the ones you selected though. Thanks for curating them.
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we can learn a lot from our children and grandchildren!
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We can!
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Wow! What a story.
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I am happy for him. A combo of hard work, creativity, and luck helped him to land that job at Boss…
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π
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Good for him! These videos are pretty funny. Why didn’t I think of that?
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I ask myself that question way too often… π
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Way to go Khaby! He’s so famous that spellcheck knows his name.
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I noticed that as well!
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What a great story and inspiration, Jim. I watched on YouTube of a small group of guys playing fireworks in the desert. They made each bigger and bigger and concluded the video with the fireworks worths millions dollars with a total of $300 M. Hubby said YouTube pay them from views.
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a nice gig if you can get it!
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We watched that video from beginning to the end around new year time when watching other fireworks.
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must have been a good video!
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It was good. It started out like any fireworks on the street. At the end, those “kids” went behind the shield when the fireworks blasted off.
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at least they were being cautious…
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Yes, they were.
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I have also made millions from my TikTok videos.
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what is your secret?
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My crazy good dance moves.
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I knew I should have taken dance lessons when I was a little kid…
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I don’t even have a TikTok account! No millions for me in my future.
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I have an account, but I’ve never posted anything…
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My ten year old granddaughter posts videos unauthorized videos of me on TikTok. Fortunately, no one sees them.
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maybe if Khaby came across one of your videos, it could go viral…
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Like Tandy I am not on TikTok so no millions for me either…
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it’s never too late…
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It is for me…I have enough social media to contend with without more π x
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yes, at some point there are tough choices to make regarding social media platforms…
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He is comedy!!!
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it is amazing the sense of humor he can convey without saying a word…
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truly!
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