While we endure the daily grind of work and sigh at our bank balances, American pop princess Taylor Swift’s cat, Olivia Benson, has emerged as the world’s third richest pet. You read that right: Olivia Benson is a millionaire and has an amassed wealth of $97 million (Rs 800 crore), according to All About Cats, which calculated the cat’s net worth using Instagram data.
Besides Olivia Benson, the Forbes-style list has ranked other richie-rich pets — by using Instagram data to estimate “how much each of these pets could make per Instagram. On the top of the list is German shepherd Gunther VI with a $500 million (Rs 4,132 crore) net worth and Nala_Cat with $100 million (Rs 825 crore).
The other celeb pets on the list are Oprah Winfrey’s dogs, each of whom stands to inherit $30 million (Rs 247 crore) via their own trust when Oprah dies, late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s Burmese cat, Choupette, who inherited $13 million (Rs 107 crore) after Lagerfeld’s death and Pontiac, Betty White’s adopted Golden Retriever, who inherited $5 million (Rs 37.5 crore) after the actress’ death.
But, this begs the question: How pets can become rich? Can pets inherit money from their owners? How do they amass that wealth and more importantly, how do these pets use the money?
Coming into the money
In recent years, more and more people are bequeathing their wealth to their pets; prior to that animals were an afterthought in wills and trusts. By the 1990s things began to change. The animal rights movement set its sights on pet inheritance, and laws were written that made it easier for people to leave animals assets.
However, it’s not like what you think — these pets aren’t being taken around cities in fancy cars and being fed gourmet meals and it’s more like any other trust.
Today, pet owners are opting for a pet trust where a wealthy individual leaves money or property to the person(s) or organisation(s) that will take care of the pet(s) once you pass away. In American, states like California allow for trusts to be formed for the benefits of pets.
Having a pet trust gives the assurance of having different people in charge of overseeing different aspects of the pet’s care: there’s a trustee, who controls the money and decides when and how it gets paid out; a caretaker, who actually looks after the pet and asks for money from the trustee to pay bills and related expenses; and an enforcer, who makes sure that the trustee and caretaker aren’t mishandling the funds or appropriating them for personal use.
Late designer Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette lives the high life — thanks to the pet trust that has been set up for him. He inherited 13 million (Rs 107 crore) after Lagerfeld’s death. Image Courtesy: @choupetteofficiel/Instagram
However, the situation isn’t the same in India. According to a LiveMint report, Indian law doesn’t allow for pets to be beneficiaries. This is because a pet is not recognised as a person who is capable of inheriting an estate of another person. In India, pets are deemed to be personal property, and one piece of property cannot hold the title to another piece of property.
Moreover, trust law in India states that the beneficiaries should be capable of enforcing it against the trustees. As animals can’t take a trustee to court, they can’t enforce the terms of the trust and hence, can’t be named beneficiaries of a trust.
Earning their grub
Besides inheriting money from their owners, pets today are minting money for their owners by becoming ‘pet influencers’. Today, these pet influencers can earn tens of thousands of dollars by creating content for brands.
And it’s not just pet food companies and vacuum makers; fashion brands like Ralph Lauren and upscale hotel chains have written checks for four-legged talent to appear in their marketing too.
For instance, Nala Cat, who is on the list of richest pets, has amassed her $100 million has a line of premium cat food under her name and also is the Guinness record holder for being the cat with the most number of followers — over 4.4 million.
Some pets are also raking in the moolah through appearances — at events and parties.
The richest pets of them all
According to the All About Cats list, Gunther VI, the German Shepherd, is the richest pet in the world. The canine inherited a late German countess’s multimillion-dollar trust and has it all, from mansions and private jets to savouring the most delicate meat and caviar. Gunther VI is owned by the Gunther Corporation, which manages the dog’s estate and fortune.
Second on the list is Nala_Cat, the beautiful Siamese-Persian feline. It is reported that she earns as much as $625,000 a year (as she did in 2019) from appearances and brand endorsements. Nala_Cat is followed by Taylor Swift’s Olivia Benson.
Fourth on the list is Oprah’s furry friends — Sadie, Sunny, Lauren, Layla and Luke. Oprah’s fur family makes regular appearances on her Instagram. Oprah’s dogs are followed by Jiffpom, a tiny Pomeranian dog born in Chicago. The most followed dog on Instagram, Jiffpom has a wealth of $25 million (Rs 206 crore).
Queen of talk shows Oprah Winfrey’s pets are also on the list of the world’s richest. Five of her furry friends will inherit $30 million (Rs 247 crore) each. Image Courtesy: @oprahwinfrey/Instagram
The late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, Choupette, holds the sixth position on the list, while America’s sweetheart Betty White dog, Pontiac, is seventh with a wealth of $5 million that he inherited.
Ranked eighth on the list is Doug the Pug with a wealth of $1.5 million (Rs 12.3 crore). With 3.5 million Instagram followers and almost 12 million followers across all his social media channels, the six-year-old pug belonging to Leslie Mosier earns a reported $22,400 (Rs 18.5 lakh) per post on Instagram, and is also a People’s Choice award winner.
With inputs from agencies
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