NETFLIX series Gunther’s Millions unpacks the incredible story of Gunther the dog and the crazy lifestyle lived in its name.
Part of which included the dog buying an Italian football team and hiring porn stars to the club board.
The four-part series tells the tale of Gunther VI, the world’s richest dog with a net worth of £300million and heir to a mysterious fortune.
Gunther is from a long line of filthy rich German Shepherds.
However, the money is actually controlled by Italian entrepreneur and pharmaceutical heir Maurizio Mian, who used some of it to buy a football club and hire porn stars to the board.
The 66-year-old eccentric is CEO of media company The Gunther Corporation, and Gunther’s guardian.
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The company uses Gunther the dog as a figurehead for its investments.
In 2002 the Gunther Reform Trust bought Italian side Pisa, who were in the third-tier of Italian football at the time.
And dog Gunther IV was duly named honorary club president.
Despite being a pooch, fans of rival team Livorno once unfurled a banner targeted at Gunther that read “Poisoned meatballs for Gunther”, according to Goal.
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Three years later the company sold the club, but the crazy story does not end there.
Mian’s Gunther Corporation then bought a controlling interest in another lower league Italian side, U.S. Citta di Pontedera.
It was there that famous porn star Ilona Staller was appointed club ‘godmother’, while fellow porn star Valentine Demy was named club president.
Italian journalist Massimo Marini commented, via Salon, that the choice to hire porn stars for the football club: “represents a common thread in Maurizio’s life.”
Marini added: “He’s always wanted to impress and amaze, to draw attention, even knowing such things would create problems and lead to serious missteps.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
