The movie Crazy Rich Asians (2018) gave the world an insight into the never-seen-before luxury lifestyle of the ultra-rich Asians. While the movie was based on a book of the same name, it grabbed attention with an all-Asian star cast, including Michelle Yeoh. Following this, Netflix’s hit series Bling Empire, which revolves around a similar theme, but in real life, was released in January 2021.
It chronicles the lives of young and extremely rich Asian Americans, who live in Los Angeles. The show became an instant success and the cast is much loved by the audience.
Post that, Bling Empire Season 2 was also dropped in May 2022 and after a blingy second season, the drama is back again for the third season, which was released on Netflix on 5 October 2022, and spans over ten episodes of 40 minutes each. While Chèrie Chan and her husband Jessey Lee are not reprising their roles, familiar cast members who are back with some more glam include Anna Shay, Christine Chiu, Guy Tang, Jaime Xie, Kane Lim, Kelly Mi Li, Kevin Kreider and Mimi Morris.
In this new season, characters analyse the revelations and relationships from the second season. Chiu goes deep with her fertility tests and Kreider embarks on his sobriety journey while searching for more information regarding his birth family. Besides these, all the lavish possessions and high-end lifestyles of the characters make us wonder what these stars are worth.
A post shared by Mimi Morris (@mimi_morris_)
Mimi Morris is one of the new faces seen in Bling Empire season 2. Morris is currently the richest cast member with a net worth of USD 800 million. The stunner is married to Donald Morris, the CEO of Morris Group International.
Anna Shay is the second richest among the Bling Empire cast members. Shay’s net worth is USD 600 million, a large amount of which comprises the advances from the sale of shares inherited from her father, who was a billionaire. Anna’s father Edward Shay was the founder of Pacific Architects and Engineers, which dealt with weapons and other technologies used by the military.
After he passed away, he left his company shares for Anna and her brothers.
Another source of income for Shay is her official Instagram account. The reality TV star earns around USD 1,623 per post.
A post shared by ✨💎Chèrie💎✨ (@cherieofficial)
This couple from the Bling Empire series has a combined net worth of USD 200 million. They have two children.
Lee runs his own furniture company, whereas Chan’s uncle runs a denim empire of which she is a successor. Chan was about to become a pop star in Japan previously. She even had a recording contract with Sony but could not pursue it. Chan was very close to her mother, who passed away in 2019 and wanted her daughter to have a more stable life.
This resulted in Chan giving up her career as a pop star. She is also an Instagram influencer and has around 1 million followers. She earns about USD 3,367 per post.
Known as the ‘power couple’ of the show, Gabriel and Christine own a huge fortune. One of the direct descendants of the Song dynasty, an imperial dynasty of China, Gabriel Chiu has royalty in his bloodline along with being a celebrity plastic surgeon.
Both Gabriel and Christine founded Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery, which is a hot spot for celebrities and the success of their business has increased their combined net worth multifold.
Christine Chiu, who is also a Taiwanese heiress, earns a pretty good amount from her Instagram account. The star charges around USD 3,585 for every post.
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Jamie Xie is a socialite and an influencer. The fashionista has graced the covers of many magazines and makes her own money. Earnings from Instagram constitute a major part of that and she makes around USD 2,833 per post.
Also, she is the daughter of Ken Xie, the name behind the first ASIC-based firewall/VPN appliance and the first Application-Specific Integrated Circuit in the world. The influencer is an heiress to a major part of her father’s net worth.
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Kane Lim, recently, made headlines for becoming the first South Asian brand ambassador for Rihanna’s beauty brand, Fenty Beauty. He claims that the musician is also his friend.
A major chunk of his net worth comes from his family’s holdings in oil, property and various other industries. Lim also started investing in stocks at the mere age of 17 and became a millionaire within two years.
Additionally, the influencer lifestyle earns the actor a good amount of money. For his Instagram posts, he charges around USD 3,261.
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Kim Lee is one of the few cast members of Bling Empire who made a significant chunk of their own fortune. It is evident from the show that the star works hard to be what she is today. She is a famous DJ and a model.
Lee has also made appearances in music videos of Nicki Minaj and Kanye West. She even had a cameo in the famous movie The Hangover Part II (2011).
Lee has around one million followers on Instagram and can charge up to USD 4,611 for a single post.
A post shared by Dorothy Wang (@dorothywang)
Dorothy Wang is one of the new cast members, who joined Bling Empire in the second season. Her father Roger Wang moved to the US from Taiwan and is a self-made billionaire and one of the sources behind her wealth. He started by buying condos around Los Angeles and currently heads the real estate development firm Golden Eagle International Group.
He also holds the 835th spot in the Forbes billionaire list, 2022. Dorothy is also an entrepreneur and owns quite a few businesses including her own jewellery line, Fabuluxe and a champagne brand, Rich and Bubbly.
Kevin Kreider’s net worth is estimated to be around USD 10 million. Fans of the show know that Kreider has often shared about him not being as well off as his fellow cast members. Moreover, the model doesn’t believe that these numbers have any truth to them at the moment.
In an interview with E! News, the model said, “I think I’m probably the last person to know I was worth that much. Secondly, it seems more like a future prediction instead of a current prediction.”
Kreider is not only a model, but he is also a motivational coach and a nutrition and fitness expert too, who founded the company Be More Matcha. He also owns a production company called Taejin Entertainment LLC. The fitness coach is an Instagram influencer as well and earns up to USD 2,150 for every post.
A post shared by Kelly Mi Li (@kellymili)
The estimated net worth of Kelly Mi Li is around USD 5 million. According to reports, she worked in New York before shifting to Los Angeles, where she started her career as a real estate developer. The stunner, who has worked as a talent manager and film producer previously, has also tried her hands at some tech startups.
Kelly also earns a good amount from her influencer side as she often collaborates with brands using her Instagram account and earns up to USD 1,673 for every post.
Filipino actress and influencer Heart Evangelista, who has a cameo in Bling Empire Season 3, recently made headlines when she caught the attention of Victoria Beckham who called her the “perfect VB muse.”
She belongs to a wealthy restaurateur family that owns the famous Barrio Fiesta restaurant chain in the Philippines. She heads her own foundation called Heart Can which aids children with respiratory ailments and is also the face of and speaker for the Philippine Animal Welfare Society too.
Touted as one of the world’s top ten luxury influencers by Forbes France, Evangelista has appeared in several shows and films such as Trip (2001), Ang Tanging Ina (2003), My First Romance (2003), Temptation Island (2011) and Trophy Wife (2014).
She married politician Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero, the current governor of Sorsogon province, in 2015, and is a major fashion icon who is regularly spotted at noted Fashion Weeks.
Andrew Gray ended Bling Empire season 2 at a massive cliffhanger when he arrived at the door of his ex-girlfriend and cast member Kelly Mi Li just before the credits.
The actor is well-known for his role as the Red Power Ranger in Power Rangers Megaforce (2013). He has also appeared in other films and series such as Shadow Wolves (2019) and Betrayed (2018). He also has his own clothing line, AMG Clothing and has modelled for brands such as Tanqueray Gin, Zara and Sony.
Celebrity hair stylist, emerging musician and Bling Empire cast member Guy Tang has an estimated net worth of USD 2 million and a clientele which includes some of Hollywood’s A-listers like the Kardashians. Hailing from Oklahoma with Vietnamese and Chinese roots, Tang makes brief appearances in the Netflix show with his husband Almar Guevarra.
Tang earns millions through his incredible hair styling skills which cost a bomb. His signature rainbow effect takes nearly 12 hours and can cost USD 1,000. He shares hair tutorials on his YouTube channel and even has a line of hair colours called #myidentity which can be purchased on Ulta Beauty.
A post shared by Devon Diep (@devondiep)
Arriving as the new love interest of Kreider, she is new only for the viewers. After a series of failed romances and relationships over the last two seasons, Kreider finally confesses having feelings for his long-time ex, Diep.
The multi-hyphenated personality does it all — from acting and singing to dancing and even production — and has a reported net worth of USD 1.1 million.
Diep is a refugee from Vietnam and her family moved to Boston where her parents owned a convenience store. Her father was in the navy which instilled the urge to join the defence forces in her. She was in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) too.
Diep is a talented singer and has created the title song “Green Dragon” for the film Revenge of the Dragons (2014) which has Martin Scorsese as executive producer. She has also modelled for several noted brands including Estée Lauder, Donna Karan, Reebok, Puma, Converse, Coke, Disney, Nickelodeon, Bose and Toyota.
(Main and Feature Image Credit: Netflix)
This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Bangkok
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