If you’re sick of hearing about the billionaires of the world (and face it, most of us probably are, given the antics of Elon Musk of late), then perhaps you’ll enjoy hearing about the world’d richest pets instead.
It turns out Taylor Swift’s cat Olivia Benson is worth a cool $97 million.
MEOW!
(Also, ow, my poor bank account.)
If you’re wondering what side hustle adorable Olivia must be doing to be pulling in the big bucks, the Scottish Fold cat has appeared in several of Swift’s music videos since she was a kitten as well as commercials for Diet Coke and shoe brand Keds.
Check out the cute Coke ad with mama Swift. No cat lady vibes here!
It sure proves the saying that it helps if you have wealthy, influential parents! Even if you’re a cat. (Though we’re not sure what’s going on with Swift’s other cats, Meredith and Benjamin, maybe they don’t like the limelight.)
Website AllAboutCats has been ranking the world’s richest pets for years by analysing the Instagram accounts of famous pets and their owners to estimate how much money each animal could make per post, as well as including non-social enterprises such as merchandising.
Swift’s cat comes in second place on the list behind Nala Cat, worth $100 million. She’s made her fortune from a premium cat food line and she even won a Guinness World Record for her Instagram following.
And who’s at number 1 spot? Well that’s a bit contentious. For the longest time, it was believed that a German Shepherd called Gunther VI is the world’s richest pet after he inherited a fortune and real estate portfolio when his countess owner died. His estate is said to be worth $500 million and managed by a corporation but it’s recently emerged that it’s all a hoax and he’s not in fact real, let alone super rich.
Netflix is even making a documentary about it.
That’s not to say pets can’t get rich from inheriting a fortune from caring human owners who pass away.
AllAboutCats says Oprah Winfrey’s pet dogs Sadie, Sunny, Lauren have their own trust fund and will inherit a bunch of money when Oprah dies so they can continue to be cared for, putting them at number 4 in the rich list.
If you’ve set up an Instagram or TikTok for your pet and are hoping to score some sweet sponsorships, you might want to take inspiration from the world’s richest dog influencer, Jiffpom, a ridiculously cute Pomeranian with a net worth of $75 million. Boy you could buy a lot of bones and dog sweaters for that!
But mystery does surround whether the puffy Pomerian is still alive. In late 2022, two TikTok videos supposedly broke the news that he had died. His official Instagram page hasn’t confirmed anything, but the lack of recent posts points to the possibility that he is no longer with us.
