When you, or more accurately your father, are filthy rich and fly by private jet to exotic holiday locations around the world, perhaps itâs best not to post pictures of your excesses to social media sites, or risk the wrath of daddyâs security team.
That appears to have happened to Alexa Dell, daughter of billionaire Dell CEO Michael, when her Twitter account disappeared Friday after she tweeted a picture of her brother on the familyâs private jet.
The photo, taken via Instagram, showed Zachary Dell enjoying a large spread aboard the Fiji-bound plane.
In Pictures: Rich Kids of Instagram
While a Dell spokesperson would not say whether the family patriarch was behind the disappearing act, what is known is that the computer magnate spends about $2.7 million annually on personal security protection for his family.
And Alexa had, until Friday, a penchant for posting detailed information about her familyâs whereabouts for all to see on Twitter, which would likely compromise her fatherâs efforts to keep the Dell kin (and their bling) safe.
But the teen seemed free to post photos and other personal information until that photo of Zach was picked up by a popular Tumblr blog lampooning the exploits of rich kids such as Alexa.
âRich Kids of Instagramâ compiles photos taken by, well, rich kids on safari, on the family yacht, bowling on their private alley and playingâŚwait for itâŚchampagne pong.
While the photo of Zach has been taken down, many others remain of Ferraris, jewelry and, in the sure-to-make-warlords-everywhere-jealous category, a gold-plated Versace AK47.
The photos all have gilded frames as borders, and depict a good life foreign to average folks, including a walk-in closet larger than the average bachelor apartment. One twenty-something dude sits in a bathtub, arms around a bottle of Moet and a bottle of Veuve, with an Amex gold card in his mouth.
And really, what kind of summer vacation have you had if you havenât jumped -- topless -- off a yacht? (Not a good one, it would seem, unless of course youâre not the guy jumping backward out of a helicopter.)
But if Zachary Dell and his private-jet fruit platter made you worry for hungry children everywhere, itâs the photos of dinner receipts that are the most mind-boggling.
A recent photo of a receipt from Nikki Beach in St. Tropez totalled more than 107,000 euros. The bill included a 50,000 euro bottle of Dom Perignon, 13,000 euros worth of beluga caviar and a Coca Cola tally that would make Bev Oda swoon.
While the average Instagram user posts his or her meal photos with hashtags like #nomnomnom, the wealthy kids get right to the point: #dom, #caviar and, in case you werenât sure, #cashmoney.
To be sure, the photos have prompted backlash in the mainstream media, where columnists have picked apart the kids for doing little to earn the success that they are clearly enjoying.
And one 19-year-old pictured in front of a helicopter in St. Tropez, told the Good Morning America website it was âembarrassingâ that the photograph had made it onto the site, saying it was only meant to be shared by friends.
It remains unclear who started the blog, which has the tagline âThey have more money than you and this is what they do.â But it includes a link for submitting photos, and also to request that a photo be taken down.
And while some kids clearly mind being lampooned on Tumblr, many appear to take it as a compliment. In addition to #ballinâ and #champersinthehottub, a common hashtag is the one for âRich Kids of Instagramâ itself: #rkoi.