£227million – Gunther IV

Alsatian Gunther IV is the world’s richest animal but is unusual as his immense wealth is inherited from a canine dynasty rather than a human one. His father, Gunther III, received an inheritance of £60 million when his owner, Austrian countess Karlotta Liebenstein, died in 1992. Since then the fortune has swelled to an estimated £227 million and passed down to Gunther.

He lives in palatial splendour, attended by a butler and maid, and dines on steak and caviar. His daily routine involves chauffeur-driven outings, beauty treatments and dips in a custom-built pool. He has a property portfolio including Madonna’s former mansion in Miami and a villa in the Bahamas.