Anna Shay, the quirky de facto matriarch of the Netflix reality series "Bling Empire" has died of a stroke. She was 62.
Shay's family confirmed the news to People.
"It saddens our hearts to announce that Anna Shay, a loving mother, grandmother, charismatic star, and our brightest ray of sunshine, has passed away at the early age of 62 from a stroke. Anna taught us many life lessons on how not to take life too seriously and to enjoy the finer things. Her impact on our lives will be forever missed but never forgotten."
Shay appeared on all three seasons of the series - billed as an IRL "Crazy Rich Asians - and quickly ingratiated herself with both the audience and her castmates. She was particularly close with wealthy Singaporean Kane Lim and the show's business development director Florent Bonadei.
As news of Shay's death began to spread, Shay's castmates shared tributes to her.
"You never know when your last goodbye will be," wrote Kevin Krieder. "So unexpected and wished when I saw you last for lunch I would have taken a moment to smell the roses and had one last adventure with you."
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Shay's father was the founder of Pacific Architects and Engineers, which, Shay explained to Town and Country, meant he "did a lot of mostly government contracts, embassies, and a lot of things that I don't know about."
Shay inherited shares of the company after her parents died, and she sold those off in 2006, netting around $600 million. The money gave her the opportunity to do whatever she wanted to do - which meant everything from pursuing a contractor's license to flying to Paris for dinner on a whim, to taking her new model/actor/acquaintances on a shopping spree.
Despite having loads of money, Shay seemed to have maintained perspective about her wealth.
"People think that money is going to change you. That's what's so sad," she told Oprah Daily in 2021. "My mother said, 'You can always make money. The things that are most important are the things you can't buy.' Money, if you don't respect it, it's going to hurt you. If you're not prepared for it, people will hurt you."
She was married and divorced four times and is survived by her son Kenny Kemp and her grandchildren.