Mandopop star Jay Chou has amassed 11 million followers on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, within just one day, sparking a surge in the stock of a company tied to him.
The 46-year-old singer launched his account, “Classmate Chou,” on July 9 at 11 a.m., according to The Straits Times.
Despite not posting any content, Chou’s follower count skyrocketed from 160,000 to 450,000 within 10 minutes, and surpassed 1 million in just half an hour, CAIXIN reported.
By the afternoon of July 10, his followers exceeded 11 million.
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Taiwanese popstar Jay Chou. Photo courtesy of Jay Chou’s Facebook |
Rumors circulated that Douyin had paid a nine-figure sum to secure Chou’s presence on the platform, but these claims were dismissed by the platform, according to Guancha cited by The Straits Times.
Chou’s debut on Douyin also boosted the stock price of Star Plus Legend, a company co-founded by his mother, Yeh Hui-mei. Hong Kong Economic Journal reported that the company’s shares surged by more than 1.6 times on July 9, peaking at HK$17 (US$2.15) before closing at HK$12.44.
Chou is a celebrated Taiwanese singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 2001. With more than 30 million records sold, he has become one of Taiwan’s best-selling artists. In addition to his music career, Chou is also an accomplished actor, businessman, and investor.
This new Douyin account is Chou’s second Chinese-language social media profile. In 2020, he launched an account on Kuaishou, Douyin’s competitor, where he has around 48 million followers. The Taiwanese superstar also has 10.4 million followers on Instagram and 4.3 million on Facebook.
