What dog breed is a billionaire

Truth behind the worlds richest dog and star of Gunthers Millions on Netflix

Gunthers life sounds like many peoples fantasy.

Hes got a personal chef serving him steak dinners, spends time cruising on a yacht surrounded by beautiful bikini-clad women and lives in a mansion with a staff of 27 caring for his every want and need.

And believe it or not, Gunther isnt a prince, or a famous rapper hes a German Shepherd.

The bizarre story of the canine who became the worlds richest dog when his doting owner Countess Karlotta Liebenstein died and left him her multi-million fortune has been captured in new Netflix documentary series Gunthers Millions.

In the series, Maurizio Mian tells the unbelievable tale that has captivated people around the world for decades.

And even we fell for the spiel very briefly.

In our 1998 book, we had a whole section dedicated to canine finances.

Underneath the record title richest dog, we stated in our book: German shepherd Gunther was left $65 million (40 million) by his owner, German Countess Carlotta Liebenstein, and became, probably, the richest dog in the world in the 1990s.

Gunther lives in Tuscany, Italy, and enjoys taking trips round the Tuscan countryside in his chauffeur-driven convertible BMW, despite being fined when police caught him sitting on the front seat while the car was moving during the filming of a documentary for the German television channel ZDF.

His hobbies include swimming in Livornos Bastia pool, of which he is honorary chairman. He also became the chairman of a football club after receiving begging letters from cash-strapped clubs.

Pretty wild, right? And the whole world was hoodwinked by Gunthers story at the time.

It seems we sniffed out the truth quite quickly though and didnt feature Gunthers story again.

In fact, richest dog is a record weve since stopped monitoring.

A spokesperson for Guinness World Records told the press in 1999 that there was not enough evidence to support claims of Gunthers wealth and that he did not have the record title.

So, what really happened? And how did Gunther raise to such notoriety?

SPOILER WARNING: If you havent seen Gunthers Millions yet and are planning to watch it, you might want to stop reading for now.

In the doc, Mian says his family were close friends of the Countess and her son Gunther, who tragically took his own life.

When the Countess died in 1992 and left her fortune to her dog Gunther IV, she asked Mian, who was a close friend of human Gunther, to look after him.

The fortune has been passed down through Gunthers bloodline and the dog featured in the series is Gunther VI.

Since then, and apparently in order to fulfil the Countess wishes, Gunthers trust has funded the purchase of luxury yachts and Madonnas former Miami residence, launched a pop group and released a single on which he barks along, and conducted experiments on people in a bid to determine the causes behind depression.

Its only when documentary makers tell Mian they couldnt find a death certificate for the Countess that he admits the whole thing is a lie.

The dog is real, and the money, but the Countess never was, and her son who was so depressed he tragically took his own life? He never existed either.

But the elaborate tale had everybody fooled. Gunther attracted the attention of media around the world, appeared on TV shows and in newspapers.

And Gunthers team even claimed to use stunt doubles when travelling with him through fear hed be targeted due to his fame and fortune.

The money actually came from Mians family and Gunther, his then-girlfriends dog, inspired the whole thing.

Gunthers not alone

Gunther isnt the only dog in history who has supposedly got rich after the death of his owner.

Under that canine finances section in our 1998 book, we also reported on the most valuable dog, another record title we no longer monitor.

It read: The largest legacy ever left to a dog was $15 million (12.4 million) which was bequeathed by Ella Wendel of New York, USA, to her standard poodle Toby in 1931.

With the disqualification of Gunther in 1999, the title reverted to Toby, who had held the title for decades after inheriting whats now equivalent to $282 million (234.6 million) today.

The story of Toby and the Wendels is an equally fascinating one. He was the fourth (or fifth, accounts vary) of his name, and the beloved pet of one of the wealthiest women in New York City.

Ella, along with her six siblings, had inherited a property portfolio that would be worth billions of dollars today.

Their father was a daring speculator, whose grand 5th Avenue home was a hub for Gilded-Age high society, but his children seemed unwilling to take any risks, financial or personal.

They never sold property or borrowed money to make investments; they stuck mostly to the same tenants in the same increasingly dilapidated and old buildings.

Distrustful of fortune seeking strangers, they never married and had few friends. By the start of the 1930s, Ella was the sole survivor of the Wendel clan, living in the family home with Toby and a handful of servants.

The office workers in the skyscrapers that towered over her garden walls were accustomed to the distant figure of the grey-haired old millionaire walking her white dog. When she died with no heirs in 1931, her will was the subject of much public speculation.

Various "long lost relatives" and imagined secret children tried to make their case in the courts but were ultimately dismissed. The fortune was divided between various charities and universities.

You might be wondering where Toby comes into this? Well, truth is, he doesn't. It's not clear when the legend of Toby the millionaire dog first surfaced (if nothing else, his name was spelled "Tobey"), but it seems that it has no more of a basis in fact than Gunther's millions.

So why is it that people (including us, it would seem) are so eager to believe stories of millionaire pets?

Though we're all familiar with the idea of a wealthy eccentric saying "leave everything to the cat", much to the fury of their relatives, you might be hard pressed to find an actual example.

We asked GWR legal counsel Raymond Marshall if such a thing was even possible and he was sceptical.

"While the law may differ from country to country, generally speaking a pet can not directly inherit money from its owner, he said.

However, money can be left in a trust for the pet, with either one or a chosen number of people appointed to look after the money.

These people would then be able to use the money however they see fit to care for the animal.

So, I suppose Gunthers story could have checked out if it had been legitimate.

In that case, where does the idea come from? You'd think that when Ella Wendel died, the press would have at least made a reference to the trope, but a search of contemporary newspapers doesn't turn up anything. This suggests that it was thought up some time between 1931 and the early 1950s, when pet heirs show up in numerous sitcoms and cartoons.

One likely candidate is the now little-known madcap comedy Rhubarb, which is centred on the eponymous cat who inherits a major-league baseball team from its eccentric late owner.

It was written in 1946 by humourist H Allen Smith, and received a successful film adaptation in 1951. It certainly doesn't seem that Tobey the elderly poodle was transformed into the Toby, the millionaire dog until sometime after that date.

Want more? Follow us across our social media channels to stay up-to-date with all things Guinness World Records! You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Snapchat Discover including our in-depth Curious Casebook series.Dont forget, were also on YouTube!Still not had enough? Follow the link here to buy our latest book, filled to the brim with stories about our amazing record breakers.

Out With the Kibble and In With the Steak. The World's Richest Dog Has a Net Worth of $400 Million And a New Netflix Docuseries Too 'Gunther's Millions' is set to unpack the pooch's mysterious fortune and what those around him have done with his inheritance.

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

From millions in real estate to jet-setting around the globe, the world's richest dog is rolling in the dough.

Gunther VI is a German Shepard with a net worth of $400 million. It sounds too good to be true, but Gunther is the heir to his grandfather Gunther III's fortune, also a German Shepard, who was owned by mysterious German countess Karlotta Leibenstein. Before the countess died in 1992, she left her $80 million estate in the paws of the pooch she didn't have a living heir after her son's tragic death.

Although we know German Shepards are among the smartest breeds, it's unlikely a dog can be trained in finance. So the countess left Gunther's fortune in the hands of Italian pharmaceutical heir Maurizio Mian a friend of the countess' late son.

Now, 30 years later, Mian has built a lucrative and lavish empire for Gunther's descendants, including a $7.5 million Miami mansion he purchased from Madonna on Gunther's behalf, which was then sold for a profit at $29 million.

Under Mian's care, Gunther's original $80 million inheritance has grown to a whopping $400 million, but not without cost.

Netflix is set to unpack the unbelievable tale and the questionable handling of Gunther's assets in a new four-part investigative docuseries, Gunther's Millions, premiering on February 1.

Keep scrolling for more details about Gunther and the new documentary.

Who is Maurizio Mian?

Before Gunther's bloodline fell into the hands of Mauizio Mian, the Italian entrepreneur was known as the heir to the successful pharmaceutical company Istituto Gentili, which was instrumental in developing a treatment for osteoporosis, according to the Daily Beast.

After going to medical school, Mian became a university professor before assuming the position of Gunther's handler. Under Mian's care, the Gunther Trust was established and now owns several businesses and corporations, including The Burgundians, an entertainment group comprised of rotating aspiring models who sing and dance for the lucky dog.

However, The Burgundians fell apart after Mian allegedly conducted "science experiments" to study happiness, according to the outlet. He went on to buy several sports teams including the Pisa Sporting Club and formed another music group, The Magnificent 5, with the purpose of procreating and birthing ideal humans, according to the outlet.

Related: Who Is Kai the Hatchet-Wielding Hitchhiker? Netflix Unpacks How the Viral Meme Sensation Went From Internet Fame to Convicted Murderer

Is the tale of Gunther's millions real?

Based on a glance at Maurizio Mian's suspicious resume, the entrepreneur's credibility is questionable. As it turns out, the story behind Gunther's riches is a farce that Mian created to avoid Italian tax laws, according to the Daily Beast.

Furthermore, Fox Business notes that there is no evidence that a countess ever existed, and other reports claim that there might be more than one Gunther among us.

Additional reports also show that Mian tended to inflate and change his stories to the press over the years.

Although Gunther's past might be made up, Gunther IV is very much real and currently lives in Italy.

"He has a very nice life and is very well taken care of," Emily Dumay, executive producer of Gunther's Millions, told Fox. "Throughout the years, there were multiple Gunthers. Obviously, Gunther does not necessarily travel or do all the activities that's something the caretakers do," she added. "So, sometimes they will have stand-ins. They will have a stand-in if they feel it's not appropriate to bring Gunther due to safety reasons. They're also very protective of him."

RELATED: What Did Bernie Madoff Do? Everything to Know About the Disgraced Financier Ahead of Netflix's 'Madoff: The Monster of Wall'

How does Gunther spend his money?

While it's not exactly clear how Gunther amassed his great fortune, or how he swipes his credit cards with his paws, he definitely isn't roughing it.

The hound has an entire staff that waits on his needs, including a private chef who presents him with gold-flake-covered steaks, and both a legal and public relations team, per Forbes. He is also protected by a security team and often visits a high-end groomer, Fox Business found.

Additionally, the film's executive producer told Fox that Gunther's handlers are always looking to expand his empire, and they are currently discussing "a digital collection" that will allow fans to digitally interact with the pooch.

Furthermore, Gunther is said to own multiple mansions and villas, and he prefers to fly private over commercial flights.