Can overseas expansion become a lifeline for San Zhi Yang?
Twin brothers from Lu'an, Anhui—Zhang Qingyang (Crazy Little Yang) and Zhang Kaiyang (Crazy Big Yang)—likely never imagined their lives would be so full of dramatic twists. Over the past decade, these grassroots brothers have achieved a remarkable social mobility ascent. Their innovative "reverse sales" approach kept users in their livestreams three times longer than the industry average. In 2022, "Crazy Little Yang" became Douyin's first non-celebrity creator to surpass 100 million followers, with San Zhi Yang Group's live commerce gross merchandise value exceeding 10 billion yuan that same year. Their purchase of a building in Hefei for 100 million yuan cemented their status as widely admired success stories—until September 2024's "Hong Kong Mei Cheng Mooncake" false advertising incident abruptly halted their rapid growth.
On February 26, 2026, rumors about "San Zhi Yang achieving backdoor listing in the U.S." spread online, though the group quickly denied them. Behind the speculation, however, a capital transaction involving global top influencer Khaby Lame and valued at $975 million is bringing this once scandal-plagued MCN agency into the international spotlight.
San Zhi Yang has denied pursuing a backdoor listing, yet it obtained equity in a U.S.-listed firm without cash investment. In January 2026, Nasdaq-listed Rich Sparkle Holdings (ticker: ANPA) announced the acquisition of Step Distinctive for $975 million. Step Distinctive, registered in the British Virgin Islands in 2025, operates e-commerce livestreaming. Its shareholders include TikTok sensation Khaby Lame (49% stake) and Anhui Xiao Hei Yang Network Technology (13%). The latter is fully owned by Hefei Leading Yang Culture Media, which is 51% held by Zhang Qingyang and 49% by Zhang Kaiyang.
Notably, San Zhi Yang invested no cash. ANPA issued 75 million new shares to acquire Step Distinctive, priced at $13 per share. Khaby Lame and San Zhi Yang received ANPA shares through equity swaps. Post-transaction, Khaby Lame holds approximately 41% of ANPA, while San Zhi Yang holds about 11%. Additionally, Anhui Xiao Hei Yang secured a 36-month exclusive global operation rights agreement for Khaby Lame, covering livestream and e-commerce planning, TikTok Shop operations, cross-border supply chain coordination, and AI digital human development.
Rich Sparkle, viewed by some as a shell company, went public on Nasdaq in July 2025 at $4 per share. Its prospectus describes it as an offshore holding company providing financial printing services to Hong Kong-listed firms, with revenues of $6.27 million and $5.88 million in fiscal 2023 and 2024, respectively. The announcement of a $975 million acquisition of an e-commerce livestreaming business less than a year after its IPO attracted market attention and fueled speculation about San Zhi Yang's backdoor listing intentions, which the company has denied.
Professor Lin Xianping of Zhejiang University City College noted that San Zhi Yang's 13% stake and operational control without core business injection does not constitute a formal backdoor listing. Instead, it represents a light-asset partnership for overseas expansion, distinct from traditional reverse mergers or spin-offs.
Securing exclusive rights to global influencer "Khaby Lame" raises the question: can international expansion save San Zhi Yang? Overseas expansion has been a key strategy for the company. In January 2024, San Zhi Yang collaborated with Singaporean influencers for a record-breaking TikTok livestream in the region. After suspending domestic broadcasts, the company licensed content clips internationally. By November 2025, San Zhi Yang had become a top agency on TikTok Shop in Southeast Asia and Mexico, with plans to enter Japan and Brazil.
Notably, Crazy Little Yang's disciple "Red Green Light's Huang" began TikTok livestreams last year, topping the platform's charts for three consecutive days with single-session tips exceeding $100,000 and peak viewership surpassing 500,000.
The deal's centerpiece, Khaby Lame, is an Italian-Senegalese influencer famous for silent reaction videos, with over 160 million TikTok followers. While his global reach differs from San Zhi Yang's nearly 400 million follower base, his commercial experience has primarily involved advertisements rather than livestream commerce.
However, replicating the model faces significant challenges. Bai Wenxi, Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Alliance, highlighted cultural adaptation risks, potential反感 to hard-sell tactics in Western markets, the contradiction between Khaby Lame's silent persona and sales demands, and heavy reliance on TikTok amid U.S. regulatory uncertainties. The 36-month exclusive window is both an advantage and a deadline—failure to prove the model within three years could result in total loss.
ANPA's stock performance has been volatile. Around the acquisition news in January 2026, shares surged to over $180—a 64-fold increase from the IPO price—before plummeting nearly 96% to $8.05 within about 20 trading days. As of February 27, the stock closed at $10.39, with a market cap of $130 million.
Rich Sparkle describes the combination as a "U.S.-listed platform + global top content IP + optimized supply chain," projecting potential annual sales exceeding $4 billion. In comparison, San Zhi Yang's peak domestic GMV was over 10 billion yuan. Professor Lin analyzed that Step Distinctive's $975 million valuation relies heavily on Khaby Lame's IP and San Zhi Yang's operational capacity, using流量溢价 and comparable company valuation methods缺乏 substantial revenue support, showing signs of speculative炒作. ANPA's sharp price swing reflects market concerns over single-IP dependency, overseas monetization uncertainty, compliance risks, and valuation bubbles.
Bai Wenxi characterized the move as a high-intellect, high-risk gamble: brilliant for securing maximum operational rights and valuation attention with minimal equity, but dangerous for banking on unproven overseas adaptation of Chinese livestreaming prowess. Regardless of outcome, it may become a landmark case for Chinese MCNs expanding globally.
From grassroots brothers to internet celebrities with hundreds of millions of followers, their journey halted by a "mooncake" scandal. Born on February 27, 1995, in a rural Anhui family, the twins started their rise when Zhang Qingyang registered a short-video account in college. A viral "dormitory ink explosion" video established their comedy style. They joined Douyin in 2018, gaining popularity with their "Desperate Weekend" series in 2019.
In March 2021, they co-founded Hefei San Zhi Yang Network Technology with partner Lu Wenqing, launching e-commerce livestreams that September. Their "reverse sales" tactic—testing products aggressively, like shaking garbage bags with 10 liters of water—tripled user retention times versus industry averages. During 2022's Singles' Day, their livestream sales surpassed 1 billion yuan, with an 8.6% conversion rate. That year, Crazy Little Yang became Douyin's first non-celebrity to exceed 100 million followers, and the group bought a Hefei building for 100 million yuan. Annual live commerce GMV topped 10 billion yuan.
They pioneered authorized clip redistribution, sharing commissions with creators—reportedly earning 187 million yuan from this alone in 2022, with over 10,000 authorized accounts. At their peak, Big Yang Brother had over 11.66 million Douyin followers, while Little Yang Brother's followers exceeded 100 million (shown as 99.99 million+ on Douyin).
In August 2024, San Zhi Yang established a Hong Kong branch in the prestigious Edinburgh Tower, appointing TVB's Eric Tsang as head. The opening featured numerous Hong Kong stars, and Tsang's debut Douyin livestream with Crazy Little Yang surpassed 100 million yuan in sales within three hours, sparking speculation about a potential Hong Kong listing.
However, the "Hong Kong Mei Cheng Mooncake" false advertising incident in September 2024 suspended all IPO plans. An investigation found that San Zhi Yang misled viewers by claiming Mei Cheng was a high-end brand with 20 years of history. Penalties included confiscation of illegal gains and fines totaling 68.95 million yuan, plus a mandated operational pause.
Crazy Little Yang's last public livestream was on September 7, 2024—approximately 540 days ago. In March 2025, authorities confirmed San Zhi Yang had paid fines and compensations totaling over 96.72 million yuan, and after assessment, permitted the company to resume operations.
Despite resuming, performance has significantly declined. Since September 2025, hosts like Zui Ge and Qiao Mei have returned, and the self-operated brand Xiao Yang Zhen Xuan restarted in November. On January 12, 2026, San Zhi Yang's official Douyin account (over 9 million followers) resumed broadcasting. Data from Chan Mama showed sales between 100,000-250,000 yuan during a 4-hour stream, with 2,500-5,000 items sold—a stark contrast to past single-session sales exceeding 100 million yuan. The next day, real-time viewership was around 1,000.
Throughout the relaunch, founders the Yang brothers and Lu Wenqing have not participated in livestreams. Crazy Little Yang remains off-air. More concerning is the team attrition: from over 2,000 signed hosts at their peak to just 321 currently. In February 2026, top hosts Zhuo Shi Lin and Qi Lao Ban announced contract terminations. Disciples like Chen Yi Li and Red Green Light's Huang have also distanced themselves, removing San Zhi Yang's MCN certification from their Douyin profiles.
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