Descendants of wealthy families — or so they say — are flexing their lineage for millions of views.
A slew of TikTok videos of people shouting out their family’s involvement in industry giants have gone viral. This trend, known as the “holy airball,” is set to rapper Jeezy’s “Soul Survivor.”
“Told her my dad runs a makeup company,” Dhruv Amin, the son of ELF Cosmetics CEO Tarang Amin, posted on TikTok, in one example.
“She said, ‘Oh like a boutique,'” the next slide read. Then the reveal, captioned: “HOLY AIRBALL.”
Some commenters immediately recognized the satirical videos as jokes, while others lamented over their wealthy status or called them a “nepo baby.”
“I’m afraid you win this trend,” one commenter wrote under Amin’s TikTok. Amin’s father just closed a $1 billion deal with Hailey Bieber to acquire the beauty brand Rhode. ELF confirmed Amin’s identity to Business Insider.
Amin’s post was a stunt to bring attention to his artificial intelligence startup, Create.
Many of the other posts appear to be jokes. A TikToker with the last name Khan said her dad owns the study platform Khan Academy, though the company said it couldn’t verify that claim, and her name doesn’t match the one it has on file for founder Sal Khan’s child.
Dan Folger, a photographer, posted that his family was involved in the coffee business. Folger (the man) told BI that he has no connection to the Folgers coffee brand.
Like other videos that follow the trend, Folger’s starts with, “I told her my family was in the coffee business.”
On the next slide: “She replied ‘aw like a little coffee shop?'”
Then, he completes the trend with a photo of a Folgers factory and #holyfuckingairball — a basketball reference for when a shot widely misses the net. As of Thursday morning, Folger’s video had 5.4 million views.
Some TikTok users included photos to show their relationships with high-powered CEOs. James C. Fish is the CEO of Waste Management, which reported $22 billion in revenue for 2024. A woman with the last name Fish posted photos with him in a now-deleted TikTok video.
Others claimed connections to General Mills-owned food brand Annie’s Homegrown and the Bellagio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
BI contacted Annie’s, Bellagio owner MGM Resorts, and Waste Management to confirm these users’ identities and did not receive a response.
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