Good evening, or afternoon, from Stockholm, where I’ve already fallen completely in love with this city. I’m here until Monday, which is lucky, because I’ve somehow already packed about a week’s worth of adventures into two days and have no interest in coming home. (Should I go to Switzerland with a man I met last night? Should I go water-skiing tomorrow with my new friends I had lunch with today? The world really is my Ostrea edulis oyster right now.) How did I make it this long without coming here? Stockholm is basically me in city form. More on that later. Because today’s letter is a big one, and we have a lot to get into. I’ve missed you guys so much!
A year after The Wall Street Journal introduced Becca Bloom as the “Queen of RichTok” (the corner of TikTok devoted to conspicuous wealth) to the masses, another creator, the “de-influencer” @daadisnacks (real name: Jay), is asking whether the billionaire mythology adds up. The answer is more complicated than either side would probably like. Is Bloom fabulous or a fraud? She’s obviously rich, but is there a reason she may be trying to convince her followers she’s even richer than she may be? Since DaadiSnacks posted his Instagram video questioning her last week, the internet has been blowing up with questions.
Also in today’s letter: the seven custom $180,000+ OpenAI watches commissioned by Sam Altman, BLADE bundling a Sag Harbor flight with a guaranteed seat at Babe’s Diner, an 80-pound tarte tropézienne flown private to Nantucket in its own leather seat, private-school financial aid for families making up to $500,000, Monterey Car Week’s record $762 million haul, Eight Sleep trying to get its $2,999 Pod covered by insurance, the looming $1 trillion Boomer art transfer, and SMU’s 56 percent application jump. All this and more after the jump!
