Who is the owner of Gunther IV?

By Louie Fecou
Published: February 2, 2023
0
View all
who-is-the-owner-of-gunther-iv

Who is the owner of Gunther IV? We discuss the famous rich dog after the release of the intriguing Netflix documentary Gunther’s Millions.

Well, here we are in the realm of “stranger than truth” documentary, a genre that, as far as I can tell, continues to grow in popularity on streaming platforms, probably due to a rise in interest of true crime docu-dramas.

It seems that every month we get a new series, and the focus is shifting from crime to really just any weird off-the-wall true story that can sustain a few slickly edited episodes with viral meme probability. Since TheTiger King, producers have been looking for a similar attention-grabbing property, and as these series are relatively cheap to get made, you might as well throw everything against the fourth wall and see what sticks.

So here we are with Gunther’s Millions, a show based on the richest dog in the world and the people whose job it is to keep him there. Heaven forbid that we should let this series go by without comment so buckle up as we take a deep dive into finding out who is the owner of Gunther IV.

Who is the owner of Gunther IV?

Who owned Gunther VI?

To answer this, we need to know who owned Gunther III. You see, Gunther VI is actually the grandson, grand-pup, of Gunther III, who was owned by wealthy Countess Karlotta Liebenstein. The Countess died in 1992, and with no immediate family or children, she left her vast wealth to her dog Gunther III.

Sadly Gunther did not live long to enjoy his inheritance, and the whole lot would go to his next of kin, Gunther VI. Now the dogs have a caretaker, the eccentric entrepreneur and businessman Maurizio Mian, heir to his mother’s pharmaceutical company, and would be named the caretaker of the dog, but originally Countess Karlotta was Gunther’s owner.

Why is Gunther the dog rich?

The Countess Karlotta Liebenstein was perceived to be incredibly wealthy. In fact, her fortune seemed to be around $400 million, and it may have been more. The story goes that the Countess left the money to her canine companion under the stewardship of Mian.

However, although technically this is true, it does seem that when the situation is looked at more closely, there seems to be a much darker and more complex legal situation at play. It appears that the story of the inheritance may be a bizarre smokescreen to cover the financial skulduggery going on behind the scenes.

Allegedly the money was originally laundered through the Countess by dog carer Mian’s mother, who was friendly with the Countess and looking for a way to avoid paying taxes on her vast pharmaceutical business income. When the Countess died, the money then had to be somehow cleaned again, and the idea of it all going to the dog was both inspired and surreal, but more importantly, it was technically legal. S

o Gunther inherits the money, Mian gets to look after it and nobody is any the wiser, including the lawyer in the Bahamas that took the affair on board, and manages the trust.

Who is the world’s richest dog?

There have been a few contenders for the crown of world’s richest dog, and although fashion designer Alexander McQueen would leave each of his well-loved pooches $82,000, as well as donating to various animal trusts, it seems that Gunther IV is still at the number 1 spot.

Is Gunther’s Millions real?

The money is real, and through various investments, such as buying Madonna’s old crib in LA, setting up a bizarre foundation, and then eventually re-selling it at a profit, he would make even more money. The documentary has footage of Mian speaking with director Aurelien Leturgie about the whole process, so it may be up to the viewer at this point to extrapolate what they feel was really going on, however, the money is very real.

More Stories

Netflix, News, Streaming Service
View all