Who

A party fixture, event planner, and self-described "trend spotter," Bettina is an inescapable presence on the social scene.

Backstory

The daughter of Ezra Zilkha, the wealthy Iraqi-born financier and philanthropist, Bettina was raised in New York and attended Spence before heading off to Princeton. She dabbled in business with her dad and later settled in Paris where she worked as an event planner. Eventually Bettina returned to the city; in recent years, she's become one of the most ubiquitous sights on the Upper East Side social circuit. In 2004, she parlayed her late nights out into a coffee table book for Assouline called Ultimate Style: The Best of the Best Dressed List. These days, when she isn't writing a piece for society rag Avenue, you'll usually find Bettina in the company of close friends like fellow social scenesters Andrew Saffir and Daniel Benedict.

Personal

Zilkha is divorced. She lives in an apartment on East 79th Street.

True story

Former WWD reporter and convicted rapist Peter Braunstein once claimed that he was related to the Zilkha family on his mother's side. Bettina and her parents strenuously denied any connection.