Money matters—there’s no doubt about that.
Most people spend their productive years working to earn a living, striving to afford life’s comforts and opportunities. Yet, while many remain in the middle or lower class, a select few enjoy greater privileges due to their wealth and upbringing.
This gap not only shapes lifestyles and opportunities but also fuels society’s fascination, admiration, and, at times, resentment toward the wealthy.
And a man that goes by the name Bobby Saputra literally mastered the art of appearing rich, flaunting wealth, but package everything into satire-laced entertainment.
From attending the star-studded, ultra-luxurious wedding of Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani—the son of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani—to claiming he bought Jeff Bezos’ yacht, Bobby has built a larger-than-life persona.
He has indulged in mountains of caviar, been fed by beautiful women, traveled the world, driven exotic cars, worn designer brands, and lived out a fantasy most can only dream of.
But Bobby isn’t who he claims to be—or even who he appears to be.
In reality, Bobby is just a persona, created by Ben Sumadiwiria, a chef-turned-content creator.
As a Chinese-Indonesian, Ben carries the traits of both his parents. His father was a doctor, and his mother once ran a restaurant, placing him firmly in the middle class—contrary to what many might assume.
Growing up as a foreigner in a foreign land, Ben also experienced the harsh reality of being bullied.
"There was a lot of racism and crime and violence. Every day, we were thrown racial slurs or bullied," he said.
"The first couple of years were tough. But when you’re 15 or 16 and someone talks bad about you, you just punch him in the face. It becomes very straightforward and that almost translates to life, right?" he added.
But returning home gave him the exact opposite experience.
As a half-Chinese and half-Indonesian born in Frankfurt, and raised in Europe—particularly in Germany and London—many Indonesians automatically assumed he was wealthy.
"I didn’t get why everyone kept asking me, ‘Where’s your Ferrari? Where’s your Rolex?’" he recalled.
And one day, that perception sparked an idea.
"One day, I just woke up thinking how funny it would be if I were so rich – like Chinese Indonesian rich – that I could eat at fancy restaurants every single day of my life. This was almost like a thought exercise of me exploring my own culture because I didn’t know anything about Chinese Indonesians," he said.
Ben Sumadiwiria pursued his passion by backpacking through South America before studying culinary arts in Paris and Kuala Lumpur.
His career took off as an in-flight executive chef for Etihad Airways, but craving freedom, he set off on another journey, cooking across Asia and Europe.
Through his connections and some gigs, he managed to cook and serve food for elite clients like pop star Adele, Senegalese-American singer-songwriter Akon, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and even Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta.
This sparked an idea—why pay for food when he could vlog about it? His YouTube channel took off after a viral noodle video.
What happened later, is the creation of Bobby Saputra, his satirical alter ego.
“I think everybody knows a Bobby, a spoiled, entitled little s*** (who) doesn’t enjoy working, lives off his parents and who’s just a bit toxic, obnoxious, racist and misogynistic. And I thought, why don’t I just represent him?”
Ben described Bobby as a "professional son" who lives in a luxurious life with his father's money.
Bobby claims to be the privileged son of Asia’s seventh richest man and heir to AQUA, a popular bottled water from Indonesia.
The persona skyrocketed him to fame.
"I’m serious. I was raised humbly, and I don’t flex. I don’t have a car and I live in my mum’s apartment. I don’t have anything from Louis Vuitton, I barely have 10 pairs of shoes. I only like watches," Ben said.
But the idea of creating Bobby, is make his character intentionally quirky, but smart enough to live a lavish life through his father's money.
"Bobby’s not very intelligent, but pulling it off requires a bit of smarts," he explains.
To create a story for Ben, he received help from a bunch of friends, including Virgo Riand, who becomes William Saputra, or his on-screen father.
Virgo Riand himself is the chief executive of investment firm and the founder of several businesses, and that he gave Ben a few pointers into how someone should do to look wealthy (even when they're not).
For starters, to create videos, he require a lot of expensive things he couldn't afford.
"I’m fearless. I just ask," he said.
"In Asia, we have this sharing culture, and if you have friends, you can ask for favors. People lend me their Ferraris and mansions. They want their stuff to be shown. There is all this wealth that people are afraid to show but they’re happy to lend me their Ferraris. They’re like: ‘I will support you as much as I can because I want my stuff to be used and to be shown.’ You can do this in only Asia."
And this is where the social media magic happens.
Ben's videos are addictive because they play on people's fascination with wealth and extravagance. A lot of people can only dream and wonder how the top percentile live, and in a world where the internet has inherited the many traits of humanity, people have began considering online influencers as their idealized versions of the exaggerated life.
And this is where Ben plays his card: his absurdity often leaves viewers guessing if he is in on the joke or really living it.
"Authenticity is good but exaggeration is better for social media," he said.
"I think about what’s current, what’s an interesting story, and how I can make it compelling for viewers."
"It’s either we joke about everything or we can’t joke about anything."
As a result of this, videos of Bobby showing his luxurious life in a comical way, managed to entertain millions of his followers and fans.
Unlike previous influencers, like Indra Kenz, an influencer who flaunt wealth he got from scamming people, or really rich influencers who flaunt their wealth because they're really wealthy, Ben only utilized his friends and connections, sponsors, as well as video editing.
One of most notable is the video where he is seen partying at the Anant Ambani wedding.
As it turns out, he had pieced together clips from a wedding he attended a few months prior, stitched them up together, and complete the video with him dressing in a full Indian attire, dancing with friends. Some other influencers, and even celebrities played along, by claiming that they spotted him there, further cementing Bobby as a rich man.
The virality of his name has even altered search engines' queries about his name and AQUA, the Danone-owned brand.
Ben as Bobby was showcased at a prominent news agency.
"This is for everyone who said being a professional son is not a real job," he said sarcastically.
