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Top 10 Richest Pets in the World

Top 10 Richest Pets in the World

If there are cat people and dog people, how about pet owners who allot millions of dollars to make sure that their animals are well taken care of? Here, we will take a look at the top ten richest pets in the world, and how they came to be so in the first place. if you want to find out who the richest pets in the world are and how they made their first million, just keep reading!

Richest Pets in the World Must Have Their Secrets…

Dogs are man’s best friend while some people absolutely adore their cats. This is well and good but if a pet is actually worth more than a regular person’s annual salary, how can that be? There are actually dogs, cats and other animals which are worth millions of dollars, and we will be counting down who they are in the next section. But before that, how can such animals be worth so much money in the first place? Believe it or not, some of the richest pets in the world are not dogs. 

Let’s take a typical pet owner as an example. A woman who’s well off and adores her cats so much would buy the animals the best collars, pet houses, accessories and all the other stuff that the felines need. The same thing holds true for dogs who become almost a part of the family. Some animals can be worth so much money when they have millionaire or billionaire owners who are willing to go to such lengths to give them the best care possible.

An animal can be worth so much money if the owner passes and an end-of-life will mentions care for the pet on the legal document. There are also pets who actually inherit vast sums of money in the event of the owner’s passing. For pet owners who are still alive, the animal’s worth is pretty much the same as their human. There are also animals who star in TV shows, commercials or movies and the money that they ‘earned’ from being featured in such things is what makes them worth a lot of money. Read on to find out more about the richest pets in the world.

Counting Down the Top 10 Richest Pets in the World

To give you an idea about how some of the richest pets in the world came to be, take a look at our countdown:

1. Animal: Golden Retriever

Name: Pontiac    
Owner: Betty White 
Net Worth: $5 million

Betty White is practically a Hollywood living legend who has become America’s darling even at the very ripe age of 92. When not busy filming a movie or a sitcom where she’s one of the regulars, she lounges at her home in Los Angeles with her pet Pontiac.

The animal is a Golden Retriever who’s a favorite of the Golden Girl, along with a few other pets. Pontiac actually has a $5 million trust fund, the amount of which will be used to care for the Golden Retriever and White’s other pet animals. What a lucky mutt!  

2. Animal: Domestic Hen

Name: Gigoo
Owner: Miles Blackwell 
Net Worth: $10 million

Can you believe that one of the richest pets in the world is a domestic hen worth $10 million over the average employee? Named Gigoo, the world’s richest domestic hen belongs to Miles Blackwell.

He actually gave the hen the humongous amount on his will. How did this happen? Blackwell and his wife, who passed away before he did, did not have a child. As such, the money that Blackwell should have left to a son or daughter was left to the next available living thing – which happened to be Gigoo the hen.

3. Animal: Maltese

Name: Trouble
Owner: Leona Helmsley 
Net Worth: $12 million

Leona Helmsley was the wife of Harry Helmsley, a famous hotel operator in New York. When Leona passed away, what she did was disinherit two grandkids while leaving her entire $12 million fortune to her dog Trouble.

The canine was even given the surname Helmsley and when news that Leona had the dog inherit such a huge amount, the courts declared her mentally disturbed. Trouble Helmsley even had lawyers who defended the fortune left to the animal so that it would not go to the disinherited grandkids.

4. Animal: Cat 

Name: Tomasso
Owner: Maria Assunta
Net Worth: $13 million

Another name from the richest pets in the world list is Tomasso, a feline version of a rags-to-riches story. From being an alley cat, the animal was rescued by a woman named Maria Assunta. The wife of a successful builder, Assunta inherited $13 million from her husband. When she passed away in 2011 at the age of 94, she left all her money to Tomasso the cat.

5. Animal: Cat

Name: Blackie
Owner: Ben Rea 
Net Worth: $25 million

Blackie is a cat who the Guinness Book of World Records claims to be the richest feline in the world. The animal inherited $25 million from owner Ben Rea.

Rea was a recluse who, strangely enough, did not leave anything to any of his relatives. Blackie the Cat inherited all the money, lived a life of luxury and the millions of dollars were used to help stray cats through the different animal shelters and charities.

Such an act was made famous when Rea died, thus introducing such a concept of animal owners actually leaving their pet animals a lot of money on their wills.

6. Animal: Dogs

Name: Laurel, Sunny, Sadie, Lyla and Luke
Owner: Oprah Winfrey 
Net Worth: $30 million

Oprah Winfrey owns a couple of Springer Spaniels named Lauren and Sunny who came from the same mother. Sadie is a Cocker Spaniel while Luke and Lyla are a couple of Golden Retrievers.

The television show host set aside an estimated $30 million to care for these animals, which is quite a significant chunk out of her total net worth which is estimated to be $2.7 billion.

A well-known dog lover, Oprah is passionate about fighting for animal rights and highlighted on her show how she felt after losing one of her dogs. The amount will obviously be split by the number of dogs that she actually has but with $30 million, the final amount would not be so bad.

Aside from being some of the richest pets in the world, Oprah’s dogs are also probably the most spoiled, not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Oprah's Dogs

Oprah’s Dogs

7. Animal: Whale

Name: Keiko
Net Worth: $36 million

Next on our list is a huge whale who did not actually inherit money from a human owner, but earned the millions of dollars through profit.

Keiko is the killer whale who starred in the 1993 Hollywood film “Free Willy”. The film turned out to be a huge success, thus allowing the whale to earn such a humongous amount of money, estimated to be around $36 million.

Keiko was picked up from a theme park with a water attraction, and the killer whale has not looked back since. Keiko is one of the richest pets in the world and for good reason!

8. Animal: Chimpanzee

Name: Kalu
Owner: Patricia O’Neill 
Net Worth: $80 million 

If you think that only cats and dogs deserve to be on the list of the top ten riches pets in the world, think again. Kalu the chimpanzee is included and is worth $80 million!

In 1985, Patricia O’Neill rescued Kalu. O’Neill is the wife of former Olympic swimming star Frank O’Neill. The husband is not as much a fan of the chimpanzee as the wife, and even holds a grudge after he discovered the small ape smoking his cigarettes and drinking his beer. To make up for it, Patricia changed her will which awarded $80 million to the chimpanzee, when she indicated that the animal would inherit her estate in Cape Town. 

9. Animal: Poodle

Name: Toby
Owner: Ella Wendel
Net Worth: $90 million

The richest pets in the world countdown continues with Toby, toy poodle owned by New Yorker Ella Wendel. Toby is already the descendant of a poodle which inherited $30 million in 1931. With a family who knows how to invest the millions, the amount grew and was given to Toby. With an estimated amount of $90 million, Toby the poodle is a lucky canine born with a silver spoon in the mouth.

10. Animal: German Shepherd

Name: Gunther IV
Owner: Karlotta Liebenstein 
Net Worth: $400 million

First, a bit of history. Gunther III is a German Shepherd who inherited $80 million from the late Carlotta Liebenstein. She is an Austrian countess who left her entire fortune to her pet when she passed in 1991. Only one month after the passing of the countess, Gunther III also died. One of his pups was named Gunther IV and he is now the richest pet in the world.

Gunther IV is worth $400 million, and the previous amount was properly invested in trust funds and stocks. The canine owns a villa, staff who takes care of the canine’s every need and even attends auctions where $3 million bids are won for a rare white truffle.

Other items included in the German Shepherd’s properties are estates in Italy, Germany and the Bahamas, as well as the former Miami home of Madonna.

As you can see, the richest pets in the world have more swag, fortunes and net worth than most people. From the point of view of their owners, the companionship that they gave along with the fun and loyalty makes them worth every single cent.