Times Celebs Flaunted Their Ridiculous Wealth On Instagram
Celebs are just like us, or so the headlines may try their best to make us believe, but we're guessing their laptops aren't duct-taped together and prone to overheating. We'd also go out on a limb to say most of us probably won't be getting $1,200 placenta facials like Jenny from the Block, so maybe our lives aren't really so similar to the rich and famous.
When it comes down to it, the Internet is a hotbed for extravagant displays of wealth, and there is no worse offender than Instagram. Where else is Drake going to show us that he bought a watch worth nearly $1 million that spouts off uncomfortable sexual innuendo? Even 50 Cent, who's struggled to keep up with the Jones (and the Kardashians), has a lavish lifestyle on the social media service.
From Billboard-charting musicians to self-made moguls, these celebrities love flaunting their expensive stuff. After all, if a star doesn't post their riches on Instagram, are they even rich?
This Kardashian made it too easy to keep up with her
As a reality star who's seemingly famous for being famous, Kim Kardashian was practically designed to show off her impressive wealth online. It's not unusual to find her giving an Instagram tour of a private 747 flight to her more than 120 million followers (in case you're wondering, it's basically a luxury hotel with wings). But Instagram Stories disappear, and Kardashian has been a little more careful while using the service as of late. Why? The star believes her constant social media use may have made her the target of a terrifying armed robbery (via People).
Kardashian posted a photo of her $4 million engagement ring two days before she was robbed at gunpoint in October 2016. The reality star was staying at the No Address Hotel during Paris Fashion Week when two men dressed as police officers entered her apartment. According to Le Journal du Dimanche (via People), the thieves demanded her engagement ring, bound her with plastic cables, put tape over her mouth, and held her in a bathtub at gunpoint. In addition to swiping Kardashian's giant rock, E! News reports the thieves got away with a jewelry box worth $5.6 million. Though Kardashian escaped with her life, her perspective was changed forever.
"I was definitely materialistic before," she told Ellen DeGeneres (via People). "But I'm so happy that my kids get this me. ... Because I just don't care about that stuff anymore, I really don't."
Beyonce's expensive accessories
Queen Bey doesn't need to flaunt her wealth on social media. Rather, she's the type of gal who can rent out the Louvre on a month's notice just so she can stand in front of the Mona Lisa wearing a pink pantsuit. Coincidentally, renting out the Louvre is actually a pretty good deal. According to Newsweek, it only costs around $5,300 to film a music video at the famed French museum, though The New York Times reports it costs about $17,500 for "a full day's shoot in the galleries." Either way, it's nothing Bey can't handle considering she's worth an estimated $355 million (less than the Queen of England, but still pretty impressive).
Beyoncé doesn't generally flaunt her insane riches on the Internet (so as to not make Kelly Rowland jealous, probably, right?), but she does have expensive taste in jewelry. Her Instagram is no stranger to the odd showing of icing, but the most impressive display came during the 2014 Grammy Awards when Bey shared a snap of the $10 million worth of Lorraine Schwartz diamonds she wore to the red carpet. According to E! News, this included her own 18-carat wedding ring (two carats less than the one stolen from Kim Kardashian) and 50-carat diamond earrings. To the average person's eye, it looks like Bey is wearing no less than eight engagement rings. And here, most of us just get one.
What else should Floyd Mayweather spend his money on?
By now, it's pretty clear that Floyd Mayweather has more money than he knows what to do with. That's the only excuse we can think of for him posing in bed with more money than most people make in their entire lives. According to many different estimates online, the star is worth between $700 million and $1 billion. He broke records when his 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao grossed a whopping $600 million (he supposedly took home around a third of that), and he took over Tiger Woods' title of the athlete with the highest yearly paycheck. Apparently, it's not every day a sports star has a $300 million year. Of course, he felt compelled to buy a $10 million Las Vegas castle when he already had a $25.5 million mansion in Beverly Hills (via the Los Angeles Times).
In November 2018, Mayweather gave his more than 22 million Instagram followers a tour of his brand new Vegas estate. According to the Los Angeles Times, the property boasts 21,861 square feet and has 11 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, a pair of guest houses, an outdoor and an indoor pool, a 1.41-acre vineyard, and multiple kitchens. Mayweather can park a whopping 40 cars on his property split between a 20-car subterranean garage and two detached garages. He also has a fountain within his massive courtyard because, when in Vegas, why not make your property look like a casino?
To Lady Gaga, it's just money, honey
Mother Monster may live a life of luxury, but she doesn't really live a life of over-indulgence. As her lavish Instagram posts show, the Star Is Born star loves to take care of her tribe. She always makes sure to thank her "most wonderful friend" Donatella before jetsetting to Italy and rolling around on Versace bedding (which will run you about $925 from Neiman Marcus but is sensibly machine washable). Yes, she takes a private jet, but only to catch the christening of her close friend's very first baby. Besides, if we were worth an estimated $275 million, as Business Insider reported Gaga was in 2017, we probably wouldn't be flying coach either.
Despite her riches, the "Money Honey" singer has remained incredibly grounded. She doesn't put an immense value on money and fame and, admittedly, still uses coupons at the grocery store.
"Money has been put on a pedestal," Gaga said during a 2016 concert (via The Telegraph), adding, "I have traveled the world and seen the happiest people in the poorest parts of the world. Their values are intact. In the richest homes, I meet the saddest and most depressed people. With this album, I wanted to remind the whole world and my fans that the most important things are love and kindness."
Lord Disick has the holy trinity of handbags
If flaunting wealth was a contest, Scott Disick would be reaching for the gold, but the Kardashian-by-proxy doesn't have anywhere near as much money as his celebrity peers. For reference, in July 2018, Forbes reported that Kylie Jenner was on her way to becoming a billionaire, but Lord Disick only has an estimated $16 million. That doesn't mean his Instagram feed is any less luxurious. Approximately half of his account is dedicated to posing with fancy cars, private jets, yachts, and diamonds.
When Disick isn't posting about the importance of wearing genuine, real diamonds and failing to recognize the irony in combining a gem-encrusted hamsa with the notoriously cruel diamond industry, he's chilling on a private jet with his children, who will hopefully never have to fully understand the horror of being trapped in a middle seat in a budget airline's economy section. Perhaps the most absurd display of wealth from Disick was when he shared a snap from a private plane with his emotional support handbags. As a genuine Lord, he was toting along the Holy Trinity of designer bags: Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Fendi.
In the words of Kim Kardashian (via Us Weekly), who was less than thrilled with Disick's quest to become royalty, "Is this a joke? He is so delusional and full of himself."
Is 50 Cent actually broke?
Rapper 50 Cent is broke. Okay, he's not broke broke, as Celebrity Net Worth claims the rapper is still worth an estimated $30 million, but he did have a little snafu with the bankruptcy courts. The problem is that 50 Cent has a passion for flaunting his ridiculous wealth online. Case in point: he apparently eats chips and guacamole off stacks of cash, which, honestly, isn't the most sanitary thing but whatever. The star was forced to admit the truth after posting a series of Instagrams with piles of cash. One even spelled out the word "broke."
In March 2016, amidst his bankruptcy proceedings, the Daily Mail reported that Judge Ann Nevins "demanded to know" where the money in the Instagram posts came from if he was really as destitute as he claimed to be. As it turns out, the money was allegedly fake, and he reportedly posed next to it in an effort to maintain his brand as a total baller. Right now, it looks like his son is following in his footsteps by posing on Instagram with piles of arcade tickets (every little kid's preferred currency).
Drake's pricey watch will make you uncomfortable
Champagne Papi is running through the six with a wad of cash. The "Hotline Bling" artist is worth an estimated $100 million, according to Forbes. Unlike 50 Cent, Drake doesn't have to fake flex on Instagram. When he's not canoodling with Jennifer Lopez (because that was, for some reason, a thing that allegedly happened), he's uploading Instagram posts of his $120,000 diamond- and sapphire-encrusted owl chain and $750,000 Richard Mille watch.
Drake's Richard Mille timepiece is one of those things that's so luxurious it actually comes off as totally insane. Or maybe it's just one of those things you can't understand until you have a couple of million under your belt. According to D'Marge, only 30 of the watches were ever made and the piece contains "an oracle complication which mimics a Tibetan prayer wheel" (whatever that means). The watch appears to have three bars that shuffle through various erotic phrases like an NSFW version of those fridge magnets that spell out sentences. Apparently, if you're extra lucky, it could read "let me devour your," ahem, something. Because who doesn't want to be sexually harassed by their watch if they're spending almost a million dollars? Then again, we aren't Drake, so what do we know?
Paris Hilton's dogs lead lives of luxury
We're sure Paris Hilton is lovely. Who didn't love The Simple Life, after all? But let's be real: She's so rich it's almost boring. We expect her Instagram account to be filled with red carpets and snaps of private jets. Even the occasional cosplaying a rainbow butterfly in an exotic location seems par for the course, but then there are Hilton's dogs.
Hilton's dogs are the things Instagram dreams are made of. These pint-sized pups have their own Instagram account where presumably Hilton shares shots from their two-story canine mansion. According to Luxist (via TreeHugger), the $325,000 mansion contains a closet for the pups' many outfits and is filled with miniature Phillippe Starck furniture. It also has a black crystal chandelier. Basically, these puppies spend their days hanging out with Louis Vuitton luggage and proudly posing with their human mama on expensive-looking couches. Ain't that the life?
Cardi B is making serious money moves
It's not surprising that the woman who broke records with a song about shopping loves posting Instagram pictures of nice things. According to Billboard, Cardi B's "Bodak Yellow" became the longest-leading No. 1 hit for a solo female rapper on the Hot 100 in 2017. According to Revolt, she also became the first solo female MC to top the Hot 100 chart. In April 2018, her album Invasion of Privacy shattered Taylor Swift's Apple Music record of the "most streamed album by a female artist in a single week." That year, she also performed on Saturday Night Live and was on the cover of Rolling Stone. Basically, 2017 and 2018 were Cardi's, and she deserved to show off her success.
Cardi B has been making money moves to the tune of $8 million. But despite her riches, she always manages to keep it real on social media. The rapper has no problems flaunting $1 million worth of diamonds, including a jewelry tribute to her daughter Kulture, but she also got married in a tracksuit, as noted by Harper's Bazaar.
Jeffree Star made a major car upgrade
Jeffree Star is truly a self-made millionaire. The former Myspace singer went from working the MAC counter to running a multi-million dollar cosmetics company. Today, he's worth an estimated $75 million, but he risked everything to get there. In one of his YouTube videos (via Revelist), the controversial makeup mogul admitted that he spent his savings to launch his first three lip shades. Now he's raking in a cool $5.2 million per product launch. Needless to say, Star has been able to upgrade from his 1991 Nissan, which constantly broke down, and uses Instagram to flaunt the lavish lifestyle he built for himself.
In between snaps of his mansion and collection of designer handbags, Star never forgets where he came from — and if he did, there's always the occasional Taco Bell craving to remind him.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever buy a Lamborghini," he wrote in an Instagram post, posing next to his new pink sports car. "Sometimes, my life feels like a crazy dream, but then I pinch myself and remind myself of all the struggles, hard times, sleeping on friends' couches to get to work when I couldn't afford my own place."
Bow Wow's stock photo looks expensive
Just because Bow Wow dropped the "Lil" from his name doesn't mean his bank account is any bigger. Despite rapping alongside Snoop Dogg and landing a role in a Tyler Perry flick, he's only managed to amass a reported $1.5 million net worth. Yet, he definitely seems to lead quite the lavish lifestyle if you're judging by his Instagram posts. But Instagram isn't real life. Bow Wow's fatal flaw was the fact that flying in coach as a celeb means you'll probably be recognized.
In 2017, the star was dragged by the collective angry Internet mob when he posted a photo of a private plane that was allegedly at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport in Georgia. He was on his way to New York City to do press for his We TV show Growing Up Hip Hop. According to NBC News, a savvy fan spotted him on a commercial flight and the jig was up. After that, it didn't take long for fans to discover that the Instagram post was actually a stock photo used by a Fort Lauderdale limo company, which is hundreds of miles from Georgia. Whoops!
As of late, he's allegedly started sending random people some of his wealth. "I don't want it. This money is evil," he said. He claims to be paying his fans back "for all the bs I've put you through." Okay then, boo, but you should probably be saving your coins.