Who is Bobby Saputra? How a former chef became a viral billionaire |

Bobby Saputraa viral internet sensation, has captured millions of hearts with his over-the-top videos showcasing extravagant wealth, luxury and an unapologetically flamboyant lifestyle. Filled with flashy cars, mansions and glamorous adventures, Bobby's content, portraying the personality of a rich and spoiled heir to a huge fortune, has garnered widespread attention on social media platforms.
Behind this larger-than-life character is Ben Sumadiwiria, a talented chef-turned-content creator who ingeniously combines humor, exaggeration and satire to entertain his audience. With his captivating videos, Bobby Saputra offers a unique insight into a world of wealth and eccentricity while keeping viewers guessing about what's real and what's not.

How did Mr. Saputra make wedding clips a social media phenomenon?

The video showed clips of Mr Saputra dancing, feasting and enjoying the “completely crazy” celebrations. Off-camera, he enthuses: “It was like watching a Bollywood production.” The video quickly went viral, garnering 6.6 million views on Instagram, 5.1 million on TikTok and another 2.2 million on YouTube. Thousands left comments, including some celebrities who claimed to have seen him there.
Except… he never entered the party. As it turned out, he had compiled clips from a wedding he had attended a few months earlier – complete with him in full Indian attire, dancing with friends – and inserted footage from the Ambani wedding that he found online. The result? Social media magic.

Bobby Saputra: A Global Internet Sensation

Chances are you have stumbled upon a video of Bobby Saputra. He is also known by his pseudonym “supercoolben” and claims to be the privileged son of Asia's seventh richest man and heir to a bottled water empire. His videos – which earned him 2.5 million followers across various social media platforms in less than a year – are pure over-the-top fun, packed with luxurious yachts, flashy cars, opulent mansions and lots of beautiful women capturing the wildly extravagant life a self-proclaimed “crazy rich Asian.”
Catch up on the news everyone is talking about. Take, for example, Billionaire's $6,000 dinner where he devours mountains of caviar (15.2 million views on Instagram). These clips are addictive because they express our fascination with wealth, extravagance and the way the upper class lives. In a world where influencers typically curate idealized versions of reality, the over-the-top absurdity often leaves viewers guessing whether he's in on the joke or actually living it.

Who is Bobby Saputra?

Bobby Saputra is a persona created by Mr. Ben Sumadiwiria, a 31-year-old chef and content creator.
Mr. Saputra recalls: “One day I just woke up and thought how funny it would be if I were so rich – as rich as Chinese-Indonesian – that I could eat in fancy restaurants every day of my life. It was almost like a thought exercise for me to explore my own culture because I didn’t know anything about Chinese Indonesians.”

Bobby Saputra's beginning and personal struggles

His parents are Chinese Indonesians, Mr. Sumadiwiria grew up in Germany and London. It wasn't until he was an adult that he began spending real time in Indonesia, and he was overwhelmed by the wealth of many Chinese Indonesians he met.
His own background is more middle-class. Born in a small town near Frankfurt, Mr. Sumadiwiria – whose father is a doctor and whose mother used to run a restaurant – spent most of his formative years in a tough neighborhood in Berlin that he says is “not for the faint of heart.” “ “There was a lot of racism, crime and violence. Every day we were confronted with racist insults or harassed,” he says.

Mr. Sumadiwiria's journey from bullying to resilience and self-discovery

The early years were challenging for Mr Sumadiwiria, who faced bullying in his youth. He developed a no-nonsense approach to dealing with adversity, recalling that when someone spoke badly about him at age 15 or 16, he responded directly. He turned to judo and martial arts to defend himself and strengthen his resilience. Despite the bullying, he considers it a formative experience that shaped his character. It instilled in him an unwavering determination and attitude to focus on his goals and be unyielding in the face of external pressures or distractions.
Mr Sumadiwiria, who attended boarding school, admits he was a handful in his youth. He was known as the class clown, often telling vulgar jokes and showing little interest in school. He felt it was a waste of time and didn't finish high school. Instead, he backpacked around South America for a year before enrolling in Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, first in Paris and then in Kuala Lumpur, to be closer to Asia.

How did Mr. Sumadiwiria turn his passion for cooking into a global culinary journey?

Mr. Sumadiwiria has always been driven by a strong desire for creative expression. He found culinary school to be the perfect outlet for his creativity and described cooking as an almost divine skill. In 2015, he took on the position of Executive Chef on board Etihad Airways, where he had the unique experience of preparing meals on board an aircraft. While he enjoyed the challenge and environment, he soon realized that he longed for more creative freedom beyond the constraints of the role.
So he set out on new adventures, traveling extensively – he's been to more than 100 countries and speaks five languages ​​- and immersed himself in a series of unique roles in Asia and Europe. He worked as a chef in various restaurants and also cooked for private clients including pop star Adele, Senegalese-American singer-songwriter Akon, Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page and even Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta.

A career change: From chef to food vlogger

In 2016, Mr. Sumadiwiria decided to become a food vlogger, driven by a simple but creative idea: “I didn't want to pay for my food. I have very expensive taste, so I thought, 'If I start talking about it.' Topics, maybe I can get my meals for free.'” He started a YouTube channel focused on street food and it quickly caught on. One of his videos of him trying “Death Noodles” at a side street restaurant in Jakarta went viral. The dish, known for its intense spiciness from 100 bird's-eye chilis, was so fiery that it left him temporarily deaf. The video attracted widespread attention and landed him in the headlines of major newspapers, including The Mirror and Daily Mail.

Personal Transformation and the Rise of Bobby Saputra

Despite his increasing success, Mr. Sumadiwiria began to feel a sense of emptiness. “It was about a lot of personal things. There was dishonesty, partying and behavior that I wasn’t proud of,” he admits. At a turning point, he decided to let his faith guide him, which he says led to the emergence of his alter ego Bobby Saputra. This new personality brought him fame and financial success.
“I think everyone knows a Bobby – a spoiled, demanding person who doesn't like to work, lives off their parents and can be toxic, offensive, racist and misogynistic. I thought, why not embody that?” he reflects on the creation of Bobby.

Behind Bobby's viral videos

The first Bobby video was released on February 15, 2024. Each episode begins with Bobby's signature line, typically when he's about to spend outrageous amounts of money: “I'm Bobby Saputra and I'm a Chinese Indonesian. We are the richest people in the world. Let me show you how rich we are…” He ends each video by giving himself a cheeky score of “China Points.” When asked what China points are, he laughs and replies: “I have no idea – I just made them up!”

Role of friends and collaboration in content creation

Bobby's character is intentionally quirky, as he explains: “Bobby isn't very bright, but it takes a certain amount of intelligence to pull this off.” Although he claimed to know little about Chinese Indonesians just a year ago, his videos are striking the point. “I understand things very quickly. When someone tells me something, I almost never forget it. I also understand media and storytelling,” he says. His success is also due to the support of friends who fully embrace their roles, such as his on-screen father, William Saputra, played by Mr. Virgo Riand. In real life, Mr. Riand is the CEO of investment firm GTG Corp and the founder of several companies.

Bobby's lavish lifestyle

Followers of Bobby Saputra are often mesmerized by the stunning yachts, Ferraris and luxury villas featured in the videos. Mr Sumadiwiria says: “I am fearless. I'm just asking. In Asia we have this culture of sharing and if you have friends you can ask them for a favor. People lend me their Ferraris and villas. They want their stuff to be shown. There's so much wealth that people are afraid to show, but they're happy to lend me their Ferraris. They are willing to let me film in their villa for a few days.”

Future of Bobby Saputra and his viral content

What’s next for Mr. Sumadiwiria? Bobby Saputra is about to launch a series of merchandise collaborations with some of Asia's most prestigious brands, including a limited-edition line of designer luxury watches that will undoubtedly complement his on-screen character's extravagant lifestyle.
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