MY BABY BILLIONAIRE
Kenny Kunene’s son Remo was born with silver spoon in mouth but his parents insist he’ll be raised with his tiny feet firmly on the ground
HUMBLE and with real respect for money – that’s how Nonkululeko Kunene would like her son to grow up. But that might be a little difficult as, at just over three months old, “Baby Billionaire” is already living like a boss. With Ferrari shoes on his tiny feet, a mini Rolls-Royce to drive around the house in, dollar signs swirling above his crib and a Hugo Boss bottle in his mouth, you could say Remo Mokgethwa is already made in life. And he can’t even talk yet.
His daddy, controversial “sushi king” Kenny Kunene, may have been slammed for spoiling his bundle of joy but he couldn’t care less. This is his kid and he won’t let “jealous people” stand in the way of giving him everything he wants.
“Jealousy is a disease that eats you alive,” Kenny tells us. “Unfortunately you aren’t always aware that you’re sick.”
People should just concentrate on doing the best for their children and forget about what he’s doing for his, he says.
And in response to those who’ve criticised him for buying Versace, Louis Vuitton and Ferrari outfits for his son instead of investing in education policies for his future, he has this to say: “I have more money than you. I am the one who should be educating you about investments.
“Instead of criticising me and trying to teach me about money, you must go and work very hard and take a pill for your jealousy.”
He won’t stop spoiling his baby just because of a few critics. “I love my Baby Billionaire,” he says, referring to the name his son goes by on the Instagram account Kenny started for him. “Whoever isn’t happy about that can go to hell. One day their children will be working for my child. They must worry about their children, not my son.”
YOU visits the small yet stylish two-bedroom flat in a security complex in Morningside, Sandton, where Kenny (46) moved with his 22-year-old new wife and son for some peace and quiet. His main home, a fancy mansion in an-
other part of Morningside, is full of noisy “boys” – four young men now aged between 19 and 29. He took them in as kids and raised them as his own.
“I’ve had this apartment since 2009 and we decided to move back here for a while. It’s warm and quiet,” Kenny says.
A nanny has also moved in with Kenny and Nonkululeko to care for little Remo.
The couple sleep in the main bedroom with their son while the helper occupies the second bedroom, which also houses Remo’s clothes. It’s clear the baby boy is king of the castle here as both rooms are decorated with his name boldly written in blue.
Nonkululeko and Kenny sit side by side on a couch in the lounge, dressed in matching shirts from top design brand Burberry.
The young mom, whom Kenny wed in a traditional ceremony earlier this year, is a lot quieter than her flamboyant husband and maintains she wants her son to be modest and God-fearing.
When he’s old enough they’ll take him to visit their childhood homes often, she says.
“I want him to know those dusty streets we grew up on and to see the suffering of those who aren’t as blessed as he is.
“I want him to appreciate what he has. I don’t want him to grow up like a coconut but to be respectful and humble.”
Yes, Kenny agrees. He must just grow up to be the best he can be.
“If he’s going to be a streetsweeper, he must be the best.”
But most of all respect, honesty and loyalty to family means everything to this wealthy clan.
What he’s doing for Baby Billionaire is not out of the ordinary, Kenny says.
“Some shop at Edgars because that’s what they can afford. I buy Versace because that’s in my price range.”
At first Nonkululeko wasn’t happy about her husband’s spending sprees for their newborn but he was undeterred.
“God has blessed me to be able to afford things for him. It happens naturally,” he says.
He returns to the business of education policies for his boy and all the criticism he has received.
“I don’t like this thing of policies. White people are told about investments but black people are asked about policies.
“I’m blessed, why should I take an education plan for my son? I hate policies!”
What about trust funds – does he have one of those for his kids?
“That’s private,” he replies. “But I can tell you my kids are covered. They’re sorted.”
Kenny has three other children – Mpho (24), Thato (19) and Musa (12) – and says he did the best for all his kids based on what he could afford at the time. “The only difference is that when they were this little I couldn’t afford to spoil them like this.”
Kenny is very particular about what he wants for his son – including deciding on what school the little boy will go to one day. But, unlike some well-off businesspeople who put their kids’ names on the waiting lists of posh private schools before their babies are even born, he’ll apply his own rules.
“Where he has to go to school, he’ll go. It happened with my last born in one of the schools here in Sandton. They first said it was full but when I went there in person, a plan was made.”
HE LIKES doing things his way, Kenny says. Which is why, when he returned from the Fourways Farmers’ Market recently he parked his son’s high-end Cybex pram at a car wash, took a video of it and posted it on Instagram.
“I took one of my cars to the car wash and when I got there I just decided to wash the pram also. They parked it like they were parking a car and I thought this is nice.”
Baby Billionaire’s more than 8 000 Instagram followers liked it – as did Cybex itself. The manufacturer, which sells prams priced from R2 500 to R10 000, shared the video on its social media platforms too.
But Kenny isn’t all about flash and fortune. He’s a hands-on dad with his little Remo and he’s the one who attends to him when he wakes in the morning.
“My wife hands him over to me and goes back to sleep. She makes sure the bottle is warm and I feed him.”
He also talks to his Remo all the time. “I tell him that he’s intelligent and smart. His name is Mokgethwa [the chosen one] and my job is to get him to what he’s chosen for. God and the ancestors gave him this name and there is a reason for that.”
And Remo loves it when his parents talk to him. “He listens when we speak. He recognises the movements and voices,” Kenny says. “He’s growing like a normal baby.” But there’s nothing normal about the tiny tot’s lifestyle – and that suits his father just fine. S