Blue Ivy Carter, 10, Casually Bid $80K on Diamond Earrings

Auctions. Portraiture. Gemstones. I was well into my teens before I had a grasp on any of these concepts. But I suppose when you’re the eldest daughter of Beyoncé and Beyoncé’s husband, these purviews of the wealthy are second nature. Over the weekend, 10-year-old Blue Ivy Carter bid $80,000 on diamond earrings at a Wearable Art charity gala hosted by her grandmother, Tina Knowles-Lawson. When she was 6, Blue Ivy went up against movie magnate and Meghan Markle guardian Tyler Perry, bidding $19,000 for a portrait of Sidney Poitier. Blue Ivy ultimately lost both pieces, but the lesson remains: We’ll never see an iota of the money this child has.

This weekend’s bidding war was caught on video by TV darling Quinta Brunson, who, still acclimating to her launch into superstardom, exclaimed, “She’s so rich” about Blue Ivy. Knowles-Lawson and auctioneer Keke Palmer also looked stunned and amused at the pre-teen’s bid. Father Jay-Z laughed it off—which is the exact reaction I happened to have over the weekend when my 3-year-old niece figured out how to order ginger ale by herself at a wedding. But you know, the Schweppes didn’t cost $80,000.

I’ll pause here to just delight in the opulent absurdity of it all. For a fifth grader to even understand how an auction works is hilarious. I attended my first and only auction as a 27-year-old and was so overwhelmed I thought the auctioneer was speaking in tongues. Also, I must ask, why does a child want diamond earrings and a Sidney Poitier portrait? To play pretend asset lawyer?

Of course, it’s possible that this was an elaborate ploy by Knowles-Lawson to drive up bids for the auction. No one wants to lose to a kid. Perry relayed his Blue Ivy story to Jimmy Kimmel in 2018, explaining that in the moment he was thinking, “I’m not letting this kid take this painting from me.” (He eventually did win the Poitier portrait for $20,000.) At the Wearable Art Gala, Monique Rodriguez, the CEO of beauty brand Mielle Organics, and her husband claimed the Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings with a winning bid of $105,000. Rodriguez captioned her Instagram video of her win against the pre-teen with, “My husband is very competitive…especially when it comes down to his wife!!!” Perhaps all charities should employ an underage bidder just to drive up interest on auction items. Could be a new business venture for Blue Ivy!