What Was Anna Shay’s Cause Of Death and Net Worth? The ‘Bling Empire’ Star Died At Age 62

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‘Bling Empire’ matriarch Anna Shay has died, with her family sharing Shay will be “forever missed”. But, what did she die off and how much was her fortune?

Bling Empire is one of Netflix’s unscripted reality shows that follows a group of obscenely wealthy Asian Americans in Los Angeles, giving audiences a glimpse into the lives of people with more money than most viewers could even conceive of.

Shay appeared on Bling Empire starting in its inaugural season on Netflix in 2021, quickly becoming a fan favorite. 

Anna Shay didn’t miss a single opportunity to drop bits of wisdom to the audience or her other friends (“There are consequences to everything in life,” she says at one point. At another: “I don’t feel this need to compete. I find it fiercely annoying.”).

On Monday (June 5), fans learned that the Bling Empire star had died following her battle with a deadly health condition. Let’s learn more about what caused her death and how much she was worth. Read on for more.

anna shay parents
SOURCE: NETFLIX

What was Anna Shay’s cause of death?

Bling Empire’s Anna Shay has died at the age of 62. The reality star passed away unexpectedly from a stroke, her family revealed in a statement to People on Monday morning.

“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,” her family said in a statement. “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 was last active on Instagram in December when she wished her followers a happy holiday season and gave an extra thanks to Netflix

The reality star leaves behind son Kenny Kemp. Though the statement refers to Shay’s grandchildren, their identities are not publicly known. 

Source: CHELSEA LAUREN/SHUTTERSTOCK

What was Anna Shay’s net worth before death?

Anna Shay was the oldest, the second-richest, and the most intriguing of the Bling Empire cast members.

Shay’s net worth is USD 600 million, a large amount of which comprises the advances from the sale of shares inherited from her father, who was a billionaire.

Anna, 62, was the daughter of a billionaire. The Beverly Hills heiress’ parents are Edward Shay and Ai-San Shay, who accumulated their wealth in the arms and defense technology trade through the company Edward founded, Pacific Architects and Engineers, in 1955.

In 2006, Anna and her brother cashed out on the family business when they sold their father’s company for $1.2 billion dollars, all cash. Assuming that Anna and her brother split the proceeds 50-50 and she invested the money wisely, Anna’s current fortune is pegged at $600 million.

Who are Anna Shay’s parents?

We know Anna Shay as the 62-year-old mother of 29-year-old Kenny Kemp. Anna has had four joyous marriages and four delightful divorces, as she tells it in the series.

Her son, who we meet at the bowling alley where Anna travels to join her gaggle of younger friends, turns out to have quite a successful enterprise of his own: collecting five-figure glass bongs and rigs.

As the “sole heir to hundreds of millions of dollars,” Kenny has built his own glass empire. “When you’re hanging out in his mother’s basement,” a 2015 Buzzfeed profile reads, “you can smoke out of a black Glock, a bear-shaped like a honey container, or a monkey in a suit smoking a cigarette and holding a banana like a gun.”

And where exactly do these hundreds of millions of dollars that he’s meant to inherit come from, you might ask?

Well, Anna Shay’s parents, Edward Shay, and Ai-San Shay, made an absolute fortune from their businesses in exports.

Edward, who hailed from the South Side of Chicago, founded Pacific Architects and Engineers back in 1955, a private defense company whose clients include countries like the United Kingdom and the United States.

Anna’s mother, Ai-San, who was Japanese and Russian, passed away in 2015, 20 years after Edward. She came from a family who exported pearls and silk flowers. According to Reality Titbit, the late couple bonded over the fact that they worked in exports, and met during the Second World War.

“My mother said, ‘You were born in a crystal ball with a silver spoon,'” Anna told Oprah Magazine. She went on to share an anecdote from her childhood, back when she had a pet monkey and was afraid her pet wouldn’t be allowed to ride in the airplane with her.

“She had a bottom seat in Pan Am but I wanted her to sit next to me,” she revealed. “My dad said, ‘Walk in and know who you are, where you come from.’ My parents would always say that throughout my life.” 

Anna’s pet monkey was able to sit by her side.