{"id":29601,"date":"2023-02-01T18:34:39","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T17:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1777864"},"modified":"2023-02-01T20:47:50","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T19:47:50","slug":"gunthers-millions-true-story-how-much-is-worlds-richest-dog-worth","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/gunthers-millions-true-story-how-much-is-worlds-richest-dog-worth\/","title":{"rendered":"Gunther\u2019s Millions true story: How much is world\u2019s richest dog worth?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Netflix’s latest documentary looks at the story of the world’s richest dog \u2013 but is there a hoax behind this hound? <\/p>

By Lauren Morris\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 01 February 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Warning: This article contains full spoilers for Netflix documentary Gunther\u2019s Millions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Netflix has a penchant for producing documentaries on stories that you just couldn\u2019t make up and its latest series, Gunther\u2019s Millions, is no exception.<\/p>\n

This Tiger King<\/a>-esque four-parter tells the ridiculous story of Gunther, a German Shepherd said to have inherited $400 million from his countess owner in 1992 \u2013 a fortune managed by family friend Maurizio Mian.<\/p>\n

From Madonna\u2019s beach house to football teams, the world\u2019s richest dog made headlines around the world for his high-profile purchases \u2013 however, as the documentary explores, the tale around this mongrel\u2019s millions isn\u2019t the most paws-ible.<\/p>\n

Gunther\u2019s Millions looks at a much darker side to the narrative spun by Mian, which takes a strange turn into sex cults, scientific experiments and tax schemes \u2013 but what is the true story?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s everything you need to know about Gunther\u2019s Millions, including the dog\u2019s net worth and what actually happened with the rich rover \u2013 and final warning: there are big spoilers for the Netflix documentary ahead<\/strong>.<\/p>

Who is Gunther the dog?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Gunther III is a German Shepherd who was said to have inherited $400 million (\u00a3328m) from Countess Karlotta Liebenstein after her death in 1992.<\/p>\n
Liebenstein reportedly appointed Maria Gabriella Gentili, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur and friend, to take care of the trust and Gunther after her death. However, it was her son, Maurizio Mian, who became the dog\u2019s caretaker and CEO of The Gunther Corporation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe friendship between Countess Karlotta and my family was very strong\u2026 to me, she was Aunt Carla,\u201d Mian says in the documentary.<\/p>\n
Gunther III sadly died shortly after the Countess\u2019s death, and so his great-grandson, Gunther VI, inherited his fortune.<\/p>\n
According to Mian, Liebenstein was left heirless after her son (also called Gunther) died by suicide at the age of 26 and so made her dog Gunther III her heir \u2013 however, the circumstances around this story, which made headlines throughout the \u201990s and early 2000s, turned out to be thoroughly untrue.<\/p>\n
As explained in the documentary, the millions inherited by the dog were not originally owned by the Countess \u2013 they were actually the fortune of Gentili, whose company The Gentili Institute was incredibly successful after developing a drug that was effective in treating bone disease.<\/p>\n
The institute was sold to US pharmaceutical company Merck and to avoid being hit by Italian taxes, as previously reported in the Italian media<\/a>. Gentili placed the money in Lichtenstein, with Mian telling the documentary: \u201cTo avoid taxes, my mother, for a long time, had been bringing all the earnings related to our company to Liechtenstein.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this was against Italian law. In Italy, in the late \u201980s, there was a huge investigation into undeclared money kept abroad.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mian, the family decided to hand over the money to their friend, Countess Liebenstein, who was a German national, to stop it being affected by Italian taxes. When the Countess became ill, Mian said that she and Gentili decided to name her dog as the inheritor and Gentili as the curator of the trust, making it legitimate by choosing a lawyer to be the trustee in the Bahamas, where \u201cthere\u2019s no tax on the income that\u2019s earned by the trust offshore\u201d, according to Jack Blum, a lawyer who contributes to the documentary.<\/p>\n
However, in episode 3, after the documentary reveals that they couldn\u2019t find any proof of the Countess existing, Mian reveals that Karlotta Liebenstein was not actually a real person. \u201cShe was not exactly Karlotta Liebenstein, she was not exactly as I have, you know\u2026 She was not a Countess. She was an avatar.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Carla Riccitelli, Mian\u2019s ex-wife and a representative of The Gunther Trust, the woman in photographs that Mian claimed was the Countess was actually one of his aunts. As for the Countess Liebenstein\u2019s son, the documentary reveals that he was also not a real person and that it was Mian who struggled with depression.<\/p>\n
As for who the dog Gunther was, the original dog was owned by Mian\u2019s ex-girlfriend Antonella Signorini and was used by Mian for publicity purposes.<\/p>\n
How much is Gunther the dog worth?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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