Netflix
Gunther VI, the latest in a long line of German Shepherds, is the richest animal in the world, valued at somewhere between $400-$500 million. Somehow, though, that’s the least wild facet of Gunther’s Millions, a four-part Netflix docuseries premiering on Feb. 1. An investigation into the pooch’s wealth that exposes both public deceptions and personal hang-ups, it’s a non-fiction effort of outrageous absurdity, replete with revelations about money laundering, cult-like behavior, animal abuse, Nazi-esque eugenics, wild orgies, and porn stars.
Gunther, you’ll be happy to hear, participates in none of the aforementioned bacchanalia. Yet even bestiality plays a small part in Gunther’s Millions, via the briefly floated idea in the tabloids that the dog had given birth to a human infant. It had not, but Gunther certainly did spawn plenty of news coverage courtesy of his caretaker Maurizio Mian, whose mother was renowned (and became rich) for her role at the head of a pharmaceutical company that developed a breakthrough treatment for osteoporosis.
Mian graduated medical school and was, until his late thirties, a university professor. His life took a drastic turn, however, when his mother’s close friend, German Countess Karlotta Leibenstein, passed away and, with no heirs, left her fortune to her dog Gunther—and Mian, with his own mom in failing health, decided to step in as the human by the canine’s side.