As the showbusiness capital of the world, Hollywood has long been run by a posse of established A-listers and movie execs who dictate everything from which bars are the most trendy, to whoever the latest, hottest actress is.
But that Tinseltown elite better watch out. Because there’s a new gang in town coming for their crowns – and they’re all women!
Welcome to the stinking rich, and super influential, world of Los Angeles’s top socialites who love nothing more than to flaunt their flashy lives on social media.
Their anointed leader is America’s ‘queen bee’ of the It Girls: heiress Nicky Hilton Rothschild.
Not only is she part of the Hilton hotel dynasty, but she’s also married to one of Britain’s richest aristocrats, James Rothschild, a member of his own famed family and said to be personally worth $1.5 billion.
As the younger sister of reality star Paris Hilton, 41-year-old Nicky has watched her sibling’s star rise to considerably greater heights – albeit while weathering a rather rocky stream of scandals, including a 2003 sex tape debacle.
But in the background, Nicky has been quietly building a power base of her own.
And, as she busily jets from her native LA to her $10.3 million New York City penthouse, in the chic NoHo neighborhood – with her husband and their three young children in tow – she has found the time to curate a celebrity girl squad to rival that of Taylor Swift.
Here, our snitch reveals the secret pecking order of Nicky’s exclusive inner circle…
Welcome to the world of the unimaginably wealthy socialites who boast of their flashy lives on social media, while taking part in high profile philanthropy. And their leader is America’s queen bee of all It Girls: heiress Nicky Hilton Rothschild (pictured).
As the sister of reality television star Paris Hilton (pictured), Nicky has watched her sibling dominate gossip columns and be engulfed in scandals such as the sex tape drama of 2003.
Nicky married British financier and aristocrat James Rothschild in 2015 (they are pictured together in 2022), and they share three children together.
Nicholai ‘Nicky’ Olivia Rothschild
While Nicky certainly upped her status when she married a Rothschild, her own upbringing wasn’t too shabby.
The daughter of Richard Hilton, co-founder of Hilton & Hyland – a Beverly Hills real estate brokerage with a net worth of $350 million – and the great-granddaughter of Hilton Hotel founder Conrad Hilton, Nicky grew up in a $7.25 million Bel-Air mansion.
She went to school with Kim Kardashian but chose a life of high society rather than lower-rent celebrity, opting to use her wealth, at least in part, for good – by taking up charity work.
Her grandfather Conrad, who was devout Catholic, wrote in his will: ‘Charity is a supreme virtue, and the great channel through which the mercy of God is passed onto mankind.’
Nicky is a keen volunteer and made pumpkin pies for the ‘God’s Love We Deliver’ initiative – a charity which home delivers volunteer-made food to the vulnerable – ahead of Thanksgiving 2023.
Meanwhile, she and her Bravo star mom Kathy host an annual fundraising pajama party for their A-list pals in aid of cat and dog charities ‘Animal Haven’ and ‘Camp Cocker Rescue’ – for which invitations are highly sought after.
So perhaps it’s safe to say that Nicky cuts a very different figure from her more controversial older sister.
‘Nicky has always been different from her sister,’ an insider close to Nicky told the Daily Mail. ‘Whereas Paris was a wild child, Nicky was always very serious and very focused on helping others – even as a child.’
Her 2015 wedding, which took place at London’s Kensington Palace, certianly helped to cement Nicky’s status as a more refined worldwide socialite.
The guestlist boasted the likes of Crown Prince Pavlos and Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, as well as New York society members Steve Schwarzman, Julia Koch, Anne Hearst and Jay McInerney.
There was also Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the former US president Bill Clinton.
And now, Nicky is super close to Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez, even attending Bezos’s super-elite 60th birthday bash held in Beverly Hills last summer
‘Nicky never wanted fame and took a step back from Hollywood to do what she truly loves, which is helping others and making societal change,’ an insider said.
‘She went from being a hotel magnate heiress to becoming a princess and this set her on a completely different path,’ the insider added. ‘She jumped right in to having children and grew up very fast.’
Nicky and husband James gave birth to their first child, daughter Lily-Grace Victoria Rothschild, in July 2016.
They have since also welcomed Theodora ‘Teddy’ Marilyn Rothschild, in 2017, and son Chasen Rothschild in 2022.
When in LA, Nicky, James and their brood live on an sprawling estate in West Hollywood. They also have that NoHo penthouse and a $3 million neo-Georgian mansion on Long Island.
Nicky’s wedding took place in 2015 at Kensington Palace.
Nicky and her husband James are parents to three children: daughters Lily-Grace Victoria Rothschild (born in 2016) and Theodora ‘Teddy’ Marilyn Rothschild (born in 2017), and Chasen Rothschild (born in 2022).
In addition to a sprawling West Hollywood estate and a luxurious Manhattan penthouse, Nicky’s real estate portfolio also includes a $3 million neo-Georgian Hamptons mansion (pictured), where she spends the summer months with her family.
Nicky gave her social-media fans a glimpse of her peaceful Hamptons retreat in 2020, when she and her family quarantined in the mansion during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tina Chen Craig
Top of Nicky’s inner-circle list is influencer Tina Chen Craig, 54.
In fact, it is said that Craig – who has known Nicky for over a decade – is regarded as the ‘chosen one’ among Hilton’s close friends and is the confidante most trusted with her secrets.
She was by Nicky’s side in Aspen last December when Hilton threw a party for fashion label Max Mara at the opulent Caribou Club.
And in February, Tina was once again playing the devoted bestie on a trip to New York to promote the launch of Nicky’s new perfume, PROEM.
The pair unwind by plotting late night prank phone calls and recently traveled to Italy on a girls’ trip. The duo are also know to jet to Paris and Berlin for shopping weekends.
Often described as the ‘OG fashion blogger’, Tina has since gone on to co-found the luxury skincare brand U Beauty.
Before influencers were even a thing, Tina became one of the first fashion bloggers when she launched ‘Bag Snob’ with Kelly Cook in 2005. The blog gained her access to the front rows of some of the fashion world’s most exclusive shows – but feeling stagnant as a blogger, she decided to create her own brand in 2019.
Tina Chen Craig is known as the OG fashion influencer and is the co-founder of luxury skincare brand U Beauty.
Tina (left) celebrated with pals Paris, Nicky and Stacey at Nicky’s baby shower in 2022.
Often described as the OG fashion blogger, Tina has since gone on to co-found luxury skincare brand U Beauty, she is pictured here in her ‘cozy bachelorette crib’.
Zoë de Givenchy
Next in the pecking order is Australian-born Zoë de Givenchy.
Married to Olivier de Givenchy, a JP Morgan banker and nephew of late French designer Hubert de Givenchy, they are one of La La Land’s best connected (and most powerful) couples.
They too have royal connections, having attended Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s wedding at Windsor Castle in October 2018. Their son Louis was a page boy.
Zoë, 47, may have married into one of the most prominent fashion families in the world, but she has furthered her own socialite profile with an impressive line of homeware – aptly named Z.d.G – and a stunning real estate portfolio.
Dubbed one of LA’s ‘power players’ by Tatler magazine, Zoë is also quite the influencer.
Her Instagram account – with 34,000 followers – is replete with swoon-worthy snaps of her family’s palatial 16th-century estate, Le Jonchet, in the northwest of France, as well as their other homes in Malibu, Beverly Hills, and the exclusive Harbour Island in the Bahamas.
Zoë and her husband – who she was introduced to in 2008 at the wedding of their mutual friend, former British politician Bill Cash – both serve on the board of trustees at LA’s Academy Museum Gala.
Nicky and Zoë were spotted together at a lavish LA event in late 2019, and have since become thick as thieves.
Zoë recently supported Nicky at the 2024 launch of her new dress collection, in collaboration with designer Rebecca Vallance, and joined celebrations Kathy Hilton’s birthday in Bel-Air in March last year.
Zoë (right) is married to Olivier de Givenchy (left), a JP Morgan banker and the nephew of late French designer Hubert de Givenchy.
Pictured, left to right: Paris, Nicky, Alexandra von Furstenberg, Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece, Zoë and Princess Olympia of Greece pose for a photo at a Nicky’s shoe collection launch in 2019.
Zoë’s husband Olivier inherited Le Jonchet, a 16th-century French manor, from his late uncle Hubert de Givenchy.
In addition to Le Jonchet, Zoë and her husband own homes in the exclusive Harbour Island in the Bahamas (pictured) and a house in Malibu, California.
Stacey Bendet
Stacey Bendet, 46, is married to Eric Eisner, the 52-year-old son of former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner, and ranks closely on Zoë de Givenchy’s heels as one of Nicky’s closest pals.
She also happens to be super wealthy.
After marrying Eisner in 2008, the couple moved into an $15.3 million Malibu mansion, where starry neighbors include Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus.
Nicky and Stacey, who has her own fashion label Alice + Olivia, have frequently collaborated on multiple fashion projects and charitable endeavors. Their friendship dates back many years.
Nicky adores Stacey, say friends, and is in great ‘awe’ of her achivements. Alice + Olivia is reportedly worth some $200 million.
Speaking to Forbes magazine in 2023, Nicky said of Stacey: ‘She’s always my first e-mail or text around 4:30am. I don’t know when she sleeps.’
Stacey usefully provides Nicky a link to many A-list celebrities, thanks to her popular clothing range.
Stars such as Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gigi Hadid and even Meghan Markle have worn Alice + Olivia.
‘I always tell Stacey she is like superwoman. There is nothing she can’t do,’ Nicky said about the Alice + Olivia founder in 2023.
Stacey Bendet, 46, is married to Eric Eisner, the 52-year-old son of former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisne.
Christine Chiu
Nicky, who clearly revels in a Royal connection, has formed a keen friendship with Netflix’s ‘Bling Empire’ star Christine Chiu, 42, who has links to none other than King Charles III.
Married to famed Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, Dr. Gabriel Chiu, Chiu is the main financial backer of the British monarch’s state-of-the-art holistic institute – the Health & Wellbeing Centre at Dumfries House, which offers a range of acupuncture, reflexology, hypnotherapy and other treatments. It has also been especially praised for its pioneering approach to fertility issues.
Together with Dr. Gabriel, Chiu has a reportedly eye-watering net worth of $80 million.
The couple, who married in 2006, welcomed son Gabriel Chiu III – or ‘Baby G’, as he was nicknamed on Bling Empire – via IVF in 2018.
And nobody throws a party like Christine. Society sources say that her glitzy bashes are second to none. ‘They are no-expense spared,’ said one. ‘She wants the best and coolest parties.’
Chiu also boasts a haute couture collection, and enjoyed a stint on the 30th season of Dancing With the Stars. She only lasted on the show for three weeks.
She shares with Nicky – whom she met in 2021 – a passion for philanthropy, notably serving on the board of the UNICEF’s Chinese Children’s Initiative.
For her son’s first birthday, Chiu hosted a lavish bash at Cayton Children’s Museum in Santa Monica, complete with a ferris wheel, carnival games, pony rides, live band and fairground-style ‘grab claw’ machine filled with Gucci handbags.
Chiu donated $1 million to the children’s museum in her son’s honor.
Bling Empire star Christine Chiu has a reported net worth of $80 million.
Christine and her husband Dr. Gabriel (left) celebrate the opening of Dumfries House Health and Wellbeing Centre in January 2019 with King Charles III.
In between snaps showing off her haute couture, Christine also shares photos and videos of her private jet travels to her Instagram Stories.
Tina Leung
As a stylist and full-time content creator, 42-year-old Tina Leung is just the person to help Nicky with her own wardrobe.
The Hong Kong-born influencer has collaborated with houses such as Valentino, Gucci and Chanel, which has made her Nicky’s must-have plus one for big fashion shows like the Marc Jacobs Fall 2023 runway show held at the New York Public Library.
Like Chiu, Leung also hails from the cast of Bling Empire – with the more recent nature of her friendship with Nicky likely deciding her lower ranking among Hilton’s inner circle.
Nonetheless, Tina has been closely at Nicky’s side as one of her most trusted sartorial advisors when Hilton launched that dress collaboration with designer Rebecca Vallance last year.
‘Tina adores Nicky,’ said a pal. ‘She’s always on hand to offer fashion advice.’
Bling Empire star and fashion stylist Tina Leung has collaborated with luxury fashion houses including Valentino, Gucci and Chanel.
Tina and Nicky attend the Marc Jacobs Fall 2023 runway show held at the New York Public Library.
Alexa Dell
In last place comes the least high-profile, though definitely the most wealthy, of Nicky’s crew.
As the daughter of tech tycoon Michael Dell, 32-year-old Alexa is heiress to his $105 billion fortune which, in 2024, had him ranked as the world’s 16th richest person, according to Forbes.
Alexa grew up in Austin, Texas, on her family’s 33,000-square-foot compound known locally as ‘The Castle’.
In 2012, a photo of her family dining on a private jet on the way to Fiji made its way onto the infamous ‘Rich Kids of Instagram’ Tumblr, thrusting them into celebrity.
Days later, Alexa was forced to deactivate her Twitter account over security concerns; she’d practically announced her every move on social media, including posting exact dates for when she’d be shopping in New York or attending a high school graduation dinner.
While maybe not the most high profile of Nicky’s crew, Alexa Dell (pictured) is definitely the wealthiest.
She is the daughter of Dell Technologies founder Michael Dell, who has an estimated net worth of $105 billion.
Alexa (pictured by Lake Como in 2018) first made headlines when she was featured on the Rich Kids of Instagram Tumblr account in 2012.
She studied at Columbia University, before briefly dating Tinder CEO Sean Rad after meeting him on his own dating app when she was 20.
In 2018, Alexa, then 24, celebrated her engagement to 40-year-old millionaire real estate investor Harrison Refoua. They marked the occasion with a $3 million ring and a lavish party at plush Hollywood restaurant Ysabel.
The timeline of their relationship remains murky, and it’s unclear whether the pair actually tied the knot. They welcomed a son the following year, but at some point since split.
These days, she’s engaged to tech entrepreneur Fred Choquette, according to her Instagram.
Between her social media snaps showing off her high fashion ensembles or her latest massive diamond engagement band, Alexa often shares pictures of her with Nicky.
Alexa is also a close friend Paris Hilton, attending her star-studded nuptials to husband Carter Reum in November 2021.
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