The Brit behind Rich Kids of Instagram, where millennials pay US$2,000 to be featured living their best lives

Popular Instagram account Rich Kids of Instagram (RKOI, now Rich Kids of the Internet) has more than 373,000 followers and was created by James Ison

When he set it up in 2012 with two New Yorkers, Ison was an economics student in the UK from a modest background but enamoured by the world of the wealthy

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Rich Kids of Instagram (RKOI, now Rich Kids of the Internet) features an endless stream of wealthy young millennials living their lives to the fullest. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 6:45pm, 28 Aug 2020Updated: 6:45pm, 28 Aug 2020

Popular Instagram account Rich Kids of Instagram (RKOI, now Rich Kids of the Internet) was founded by 27-year-old James Ison when he posted a picture of a US billionaire’s son. It went viral and he teamed up with two anonymous New Yorkers to create RKOI.

Today, RKOI has more than 373,000 followers and charges wealthy millennials up to US$2,000 to be featured.

The account had humble beginnings.

A recent profile for British newspaper The Times reported that Ison started the account in 2012 after posting a single picture that quickly went viral: Zachary Dell, son of billionaire Michael Dell, feasting on a buffet in a private jet.

Ison was a university economics student enamoured by the wealthy world, a sharp contrast from his modest childhood upbringing. Soon after he began reposting pictures of the children of millionaires and billionaires, two New Yorkers who were separately doing the same reached out to Ison.

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