Presented by R2
If you think Jay Gatsby, Citizen Kane, Walt Disney or Hugh Hefner were over the top, larger than life, magnetic personalities, icons, or cultural influencers then meet the newest incarnation of digital age real-life impresario: King Rolodex, a kind of Bruce Wayne-meets-Hugh Hefner for the social media age.
Yassin Kassem Fawaz was born in 1987, in Fairfax, Virginia, the son of a Lebanese-American business magnate father and an African-American mother. He is a financier, dealmaker, international fixer and trusted confidante to executives and politicians around the world by day. He combines this high-powered influence and back-channel dealmaking with a flamboyant and extravagant lifestyle outside of work.
His Instagram Stories have become more of a daily reality show for his followers, and his best posts are getting big shout-outs from fellow social media influencers, famous athletes and celebrities. His show can be described as diverse, opinionated, smart, ostentatious, daring, entertaining and funny. It ticks all the right boxes.
The content ranges from counting a million dollars in cash to raiding the French and Italian designer boutiques on almost a daily basis, collecting and curating super cars and Swiss watches, and taking out beauty queens and catwalk models on dates at Michelin-starred restaurants and upscale lounges. And if you think that wasn’t enough, he’s also a main sponsor of beauty pageants including Miss Top Model of the World, Miss Tourism Universe, Miss Europe, and Miss Asia World.
As a self-described “creative person” he claims it is hard to face reality, when everyone is busy just surviving. “There is little place for unconventional thinking or creativity to exist in today’s contentious environment, so I decided to create a fantasy world and live in it, Yassin says.
“When King Rolodex was created a character that had no boundaries and was larger-than-life came into being. I felt it was my way of adding joy to the world, pure hedonism and sheer and unabashed freedom.”
Yassin had the insight to know that in order to realize his evil twin, it would take an extraordinary zest for audacious self-promotion alloyed to extravagant exhibitionism. To further concoct an immodest display of a way of life as transgressive and decadent as it was free from boundaries and inhibition.
Yassin Fawaz as King Rolodex has emerged as a fictional character come to life. A second self, real-life Bruce Wayne-to-Batman metamorphosis who serves as an audacious alter ego and to his many fans a rapture of escapism and aspiration and a global icon.
He is now one of the biggest stars on the internet and has displayed a lot of savvy in developing a new kind of celebrity and has carried it off with a gonzo-esque sense of humor that has for the most part diffused its brasher undertones.
With Yassin often sending-up his own creation while at the same time reveling in it, and a man through whom hundreds of thousands now vicariously view their fantasies in real time. It’s now time to reveal truth behind Yassin’s self-made fortune and high-octane lifestyle, and to understand the meteoric ascent of his wild and outrageous avatar.
“Some would say my collection of exotic vehicles, luxury clothing, rare jewelry and art collection and high-end lifestyle was the main force behind the characters’ success, but I would disagree,” Yassin says. “Because one thing I have learned from this journey is that so many others have tried just to create half of what I have created in a year without any tangible level of notoriety or success.”
By day a private and conservative CEO of a global political risk and business intelligence company (The Raddington Group), King Rolodex has emerged as a “King of Instagram” by acclamation from his admiring and accelerating global fan base of over 1,000,000 followers catapulting him to the apex of Instagram celebrity in under two years.
His climb to fame and success however did not happen overnight, taking many years to build his business empire before King Rolodex claimed his crown. Having acquired immense wealth in securing M&A deals, amongst other ventures, his Raddington Group has an influential global reach and high-level reach with many heads of states and royal families.
Building close associations at the apex of political and industrial leadership and maintaining close intimate links with industry leaders and billionaires such; as Ratan Tata, Aliko Dangote, Alexei Mordashov, Alisher Usmanov, Sunil Mittal, Anil Ambani, Naveen Jindal, Shapoor Mistry, Anil Manibhai Naik, and Sudhir Mehta.
”Having operated as a master strategist advising politicians and heads-of-state, my skill-set rests in knowing how all the moving parts fit together and how to move each individually with precision made it possible for me to bring this character to life and create an ever-growing following,” Yassin says.
It was in early 2018 when the enigmatic King Rolodex was born. An avatar that had no boundaries and was full of intrigue, Yassin found his vector for adding glamour, fun, and fantasy to the world. Once created, fans were besieging him with attention and before long, the Instagram King, had collected thousands of adherents, who were seeking to live out their fantasies.
“Our world never really accepts unconventional things, no matter how impactful. The same happened with King Rolodex. From the start my character received a torrent of feedback, both good and bad. Almost everyone voiced an opinion to offer,” Yassin adds. His sudden celebrity did not restrain him and only propelled him on even further, rejecting the negativity and criticisms that came his way and continued on.
“I realized that despite the reproach, more and more eyes were becoming fixated on King Rolodex, and that my public and fans where loving and exhilarated by my exuberance. I think the appeal of King Rolodex lies in his authenticity that nothing is fabricated, nor are any of the outing and shopping sprees staged. This keeps my fans glued to his account and returning for more.”
While many of the social media influencers use their platforms as a moneymaking scheme King Rolodex is a self-funded personality with no commercial agenda. He has spent over 6 million dollars in pursuit of staying independent. In stark contrast with the numerous superficial social media personalities and charlatans who often create a cypher to drive traffic and snatch a momentary quasi-celebrity.
King Rolodex seeks to present a challenge to discrimination, racism, and elitism. As Yassin says, “I recognized that I had built a cult following and I had individuals from all races, colors, creeds, sexualities, genders, and ethnic backgrounds.” And this fed him more confidence and a clear purpose to exist.
Drawing on his specialist expertise and media savvy, having built a career advising politicians and developing successful communications strategies, he knew that his alter ego could exerts a lot of influence over his fans, and that he could change people’s lives, for the better and challenge their prejudices and perceptions.
Combining his show stopping public appearances, eye-popping outfits, charismatic communication skills and exuberant lust-for-life, he has in sum invented a larger-than-life role for himself that he fully embraces. Yet there is always a thin veneer between his dual personas, which he manages to balance.
The executive CEO of the Raddington Group transforming into King Rolodex and offering a high-octane sugar-hit of entertainment to the world. His genius beyond the character, made everybody pay attention to his voice of authority, and he knew how to perfectly balance his creativity and ethics with his pleasure and fantasy. It seems time and money are on his side.
