A multi-property owner's list of friends ranked according to their projected income has sparked outrage on social media.
A wealthy TikTok user named Tom Cruz—not to be confused with the actor, Tom Cruise—posted a video showing his "Forbes Friends List", created for the purpose of planning trips.
The spreadsheet shows his friends ranked according to how much money they make.
The original video on TikTok appeared to have been taken down, but it resurfaced on Twitter, where a user wrote the following caption:
"What in the wealth is this."
What in the wealth is thispic.twitter.com/NTPTKT5CZG— Karim Alammuri (@Karim Alammuri) 1629292830
In the clip, Cruz talked about the list's origins.
"So a few years ago my friends and I started making a spreadsheet breaking down our incomes and availability for travel and it looks like this."
"The Richest in 2020" sheet listed 18 members starting with "Shawn," whose projected 2021 income was $5 million, to "Broke Bobby," who was expected to make $125,00 this year.
@tcruznc/TikTok
"This is incredibly helpful," said Cruz of the spreadsheet.
Additional columns indicated available paid time off (PTO), expected bonuses, how much they were willing to spend on 3-day and 7-day trips, and marital status "so it helps to know who's coming."
One peculiar categorization was the marital status for "Chris K."—who was labeled as "complicated" and "70% single."
Everybody talking about Broke Bobby, nobody talking about how Chris K. is 70% singlepic.twitter.com/KpirkijhXS— Tom Petrini (@Tom Petrini) 1629353303
Hold on\u2026.what does this even mean?? pic.twitter.com/CJ4pGkYZdM— Mr. Chase (@Mr. Chase) 1629383138
"We all still hang out regardless of income," said Cruz in an overlaid text, accompanied by a smiley face emoji. "But certain trips, some friends can't make it. And that's OK."
Additional columns indicated which friends were willing to travel to a third-world destination, which would split the cost of a private flight, and which ones were degenerate gamblers or not.
He added:
"This list is very pragmatic and a lot of them are saying it's motivational."
"It allows avoiding awkward situations within our friend group, inviting certain friends who may or may not wanna do what we wanna do—especially when it comes to gambling or spending a lot of money."
The list riled social media users and it sparked a conversation about the wealth gap disparity.
Did anyone notice how the top earners don\u2019t have to worry about PTO or bonuses, low paying jobs will have you working for pennies and begging for sick leave.— That girl. (@That girl.) 1629328763
I hope you all notice the Income to PTO ratio. That\u2019s a microcosm of every corporation. Some workers get paid more to work less. The guys with million dollar salaries are getting unlimited PTO while \u201cBroke Bobby\u201d only gets 9 days of PTO— Ma'at is the truth (@Ma'at is the truth) 1629351026
I\u2019m sorry but if that\u2019s what you call broke for \u201cbroke bobby\u201d then I must be homeless lmaopic.twitter.com/lv35rkXZQZ— ny. (@ny.) 1629353156
why did he share this? How did he not immediately lose all his followers? This is one of the cringe-iest things I've ever seen on here. Why would anyone want more of this content?— Amir Talai PLS VOTE IN THE SAG-AFTRA ELECTIONS (@Amir Talai PLS VOTE IN THE SAG-AFTRA ELECTIONS) 1629351880
Others didn't know what to make of the video.
Do you think the orig video is supposed to be a joke or the dude just has like no self awareness...— Jenna \ud83d\ude37 (@Jenna \ud83d\ude37) 1629351360
This wasn't the only controversial list he created to give viewers a glimpse into his world.
Another one representing the "Bottom 10 income earners" in his friends group, who call themselves the "Welfare 10," indicated those in his circle who made under $100K a year, with a couple remaining on unemployment.
The privilege. My mouth is actually open. The appropriation of the word, \u201cwelfare\u201d and the fact that these people will likely never be in a lower class/poverty level situation of any kind\u2026 how is this person still making videos and not being dragged for this crap?— Traci Lowry (@Traci Lowry) 1629364694
People have repeatedly questioned Cruz's line of work in the comments on his videos.
According to his TikTok bio, Cruz is an investor who owns 380 properties.
@tcruznc/TikTok
A link to his website showed that he buys section 8—a program that allows private landlords to buy property and rent out to qualified low-income tenants at fair market rates.
Of course he's a landlordpic.twitter.com/PX5c8vWEMH— Chaz \ud83c\udf10\ud83d\uddfd (@Chaz \ud83c\udf10\ud83d\uddfd) 1629354745
According to In The Know, Cruz maintained that his controversial TikTok posts and friend-ranking lists are not satire.