Anna Shay, who appeared in Netflix’s “Bling Empire” reality show, has died after suffering a stroke, Variety has confirmed. She was 62.
“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,” her family wrote in a statement to Variety.
Shay was born and raised in Japan to American businessman Edward Shay and half-Japanese, half-Russian Ai Oizumi Shay. Her father was the founder of the global defense contractor Pacific Architects and Engineers.
After her father died in 1995, Shay’s brother Allen became CEO of Pacific Architects. In 2006, Shay and her brother sold the company to Lockheed Martin, making them heirs to the company fortune.
Shay then became a star on Netflix’s reality TV series “Bling Empire” in 2021. She starred alongside Kane Lim, Gabriel and Christine Chiu, Kim Lee, Jaime Xie and other Asian American Los Angeles socialites. The show was often described as the real-life “Crazy Rich Asians”
“Shay says she thought about starring on Bling Empire as doing something for herself, after spending years looking after her son, in the wake of her parents’ deaths,” Town & Country said of her in a 2021 profile.
Shay is survived by her son Kenny Kemp.