[EPISODE 35] Gunther’s Millions: Secrets Behind the World's Richest Pooch

Adam Cox: And so these members were told to participate in planned mating and procreate a generation. 

Kyle Risi: Oh my god, why are they calling a planned mating? 

Adam Cox: Planned mating. I'm putting that in. Quotation marks. Just call it date night. I'm gonna start referring to that from now on. What? Adam, it's Wednesday night.

Adam Cox: It's planned mating.. 

Adam Cox: Gross 

Adam Cox: welcome to the Compendium, an assembly of ambitious yet unusual business decisions, all in attempt to achieve lifelong happiness. 

Kyle Risi: Oh, I have no idea what this could be about. Oh, have we switched lanes? Are we now a happiness and wellness podcast?

Adam Cox: A wellbeing podcast. Oh, Adam. Yeah, we're top tips on how to be happy. No, that 

Kyle Risi: can't be it. What could this possibly be about today? 

Adam Cox: Well, let me ask you a question, Kyle. How would you feel if you received 80 million in inheritance? How would I 

Kyle Risi: feel? Yeah. I'd feel over the moon, obviously. I'd definitely quit 

Adam Cox: work.

Adam Cox: And what would you do with that money? Oh 

Kyle Risi: god, um. Obviously do all the things that you need to Spunk a lot of it? Spunk all over it? No, spunk a load of it. Okay. Yeah, I don't know, maybe see, maybe make sure my parents are okay. maybe buy a brand new house. Uh, go on loads of holidays. Yeah, just live the dream.

Kyle Risi: Why, where's this 

Adam Cox: going, Adam? Well, can you imagine if that 80 million inheritance went to a dog? 

Kyle Risi: No, I can't imagine that. Why would you leave 80 million dollars to a dog? 

Adam Cox: Well, in today's compendium, we are going to be diving into the story of Gunther's Millions, a German shepherd dog that was left an 80 million fortune from a German countess, who clearly loved this dog very much.

Adam Cox: We are going to explore what kind of lifestyle this dog had and how he managed to release a song. Funded a pop band. Bought Madonna's house. Created a reality TV show. Owned two football clubs. And somehow orchestrated a potential sex cult. All while trying to find happiness. 

Kyle Risi: Hang on, the sex cult. Humans or other 

Adam Cox: dogs?

Adam Cox: Yeah, gonna have to stay tuned to find out. Oh my god, 

Kyle Risi: I'm living for 

Adam Cox: it. Okay, so for those who are just tuning in for the first time, I am your host for today, Adam Cox. And I'm your... 

Kyle Risi: co host? Hang on a minute, I'm the host! That never changes! 

Adam Cox: Today I'm your host. Okay, fine. I'm your co host, Kyle Risi. And you're listening to The Compendium, an assembly of fascinating and intriguing things.

Adam Cox: We're a weekly variety podcast where, ordinarily, Kyle Risi tells me... All about the topic that he finds both fascinating and intriguing. From groundbreaking events to unforgettable people. But today it's me that's doing it. And we do this in a one hour-ish episode, giving you just enough information to stand your ground at a social gathering.

Adam Cox: Very well done. I know from practice. Did you memorize that? Yeah. 

Kyle Risi: Well done. Good. Good for you. So Adam, it's a new week and it can only mean one thing.

Kyle Risi: It's time for all the latest things. That time of the week where we catch up on all the latest happenings from the past week. 

Adam Cox: Are you ready? Let's do it.

Kyle Risi: So, what have you got for me? 

Adam Cox: Okay, so for my latest things this week, um, again I'm going to start off with a question. You know when you go through airport security? Yeah. When you're travelling by plane and you arrive back in the airport, you've collected your luggage, and then you have to go through an area where you have to declare your goods?

Adam Cox: Yeah, customs. Customs, yeah. Um, and what do you think you normally have to declare when you go through customs? 

Kyle Risi: Um, well, maybe cigarettes? Uh huh. Not that we do that. Have you bought any precious metals like gold or anything like that? I don't know. A sword? A knife? I don't 

Adam Cox: know. Well, you also have to declare if you bring back any poo.

Kyle Risi: Hang on, what kind of poo? 

Adam Cox: Your own poo? I don't think you have to declare that. But, if you bring back, animal poo, That's maybe not native to the country. You have to declare that? Oh, I guess that kind of makes 

Kyle Risi: sense really because if you bring back fruit of edge or anything like that You need to declare it, right?

Kyle Risi: Just in case there's any, I don't know, foreign insects or anything like that on it. So poo kind of makes sense. 

Adam Cox: Yeah, well this happened in America. It's always America. Where a box of giraffe poo was seized at an airport after a woman wanted to use it to make a necklace. She had apparently declared it, in fairness to her, and she went about all the right procedures to do it.

Adam Cox: Um, but apparently, because there was a risk of contamination and bringing in disease into the country, she wasn't allowed to keep her poo. Oh no, goddammit! I know, but she said that she managed to bring back some moose poo, and it was absolutely fine. It's 

Kyle Risi: because of the Canadians. Canadian moose poo is safe, you know.

Kyle Risi: I guess so. As soon as you go to Africa, it's like, woah. Is there any Bolo 

Adam Cox: in that? Um, so yeah, next time you pass through customs, just think you maybe 

Kyle Risi: should bring back some poo. What about if you're bringing back poo inside 

Adam Cox: your own body? I think that's allowed. No, no, no, no, 

Kyle Risi: no. What about if you're bringing some poo back in your own body?

Adam Cox: So you're smuggling another animal's poo? Yeah yeah yeah, 

Kyle Risi: just like what they do with uh, cocaine. You're like, stick some in a condom, swallow a bunch of like poo sausages, and just hope one doesn't rupture inside kind of all their stomach 

Adam Cox: juices. I mean, if she's really desperate to make some jewelry, then maybe that's what she should do next time.

Adam Cox: Hey, that's a markup 

Kyle Risi: right there. It's like, poo's been curing inside her stomach juices, and therefore she can charge like an extra 70 percent markup on 

Adam Cox: the product. Gross. But that's, that's the price you pay for poo mewling. What 

Kyle Risi: I'm more intrigued about, actually, is what kind of jewellery is she making from bloody giraffe poo, of all things? What is that even going 

to 

Adam Cox: look like? Well, she made necklaces from moose faeces before, so maybe, I don't know, a matching bracelet to go 

Kyle Risi: with that?

Kyle Risi: Do you think, like, she's maybe preparing it, turning it into some kind of ceramic or some kind of clay?  Like, kind of like, ceramic y, clay y 

Adam Cox: little medallions. I mean, I can't imagine how this kind of would look.

Adam Cox: Pretty. It's not an emerald. It's not a ruby. No, no, no, 

Kyle Risi: no. But I mean, Jory does take many different forms anyway, 

Adam Cox: yeah I'd be really interested to find out what she's making from it. 

Adam Cox: Well, I'll see if I can find her website, her Pinterest, or what is it? Her Etsy account. Her Etsy account, that's it.

Kyle Risi: Okay, interesting. So, uh, for my latest thing, is that it emerged recently that the first BBC presenter with a Northern accent was given the job to make it harder for Nazis to impersonate newsreaders during the war.

Kyle Risi: What? That's it. So it was basically an attempt to kind of combat Nazi propaganda in the UK. Because during the war... The Nazis were heavily involved in disseminating propaganda around the UK, and one of the most infamous Nazi propaganda efforts targeting the UK population was through, various radio broadcasts.

Kyle Risi: And apparently, in these broadcasts, the Germans would then take the piss out of the British, like putting on these really stupid British accents, and they would kind of exaggerate accounts of German victories and talk about how the Germans were on the brink of winning the war. So during the war, the BBC brought in Wilfred Pickles, which is a brilliant name for a Yorkshireman.

Kyle Risi: And he presented with a really strong Yorkshire accent and the aim was to make it really challenging for the Nazis to emulate or kind of impersonate his accent and basically the Yorkshire accent for one it's really distinctive to people yeah they know it they know it instantly and also it was a clue or a signal to the British population that This is a legitimate kind of news article or kind of a newsreel because it had this very distinct Yorkshire accent that was very difficult for the 

Adam Cox: Germans to impersonate.

Adam Cox: I love that. I love that they did that. So. 

Kyle Risi: That's all the latest things!

Kyle Risi: So what are you serving up for us 

Adam Cox: today? Should we get on with the show? Let's get on with the show. , It's all about Gunther, the German shepherd dog, so he inherited 80 million dollars from his owner back in 1992 making him the richest dog in the world possibly the richest animal in the world I don't think any animal has really come close to this level of fortune And particularly for,  know, time that this was, and 80 million dollars in the early 90s, I think Taylor Swift's cat is supposedly worth 97 million dollars now.

Adam Cox: How? 

Kyle Risi: How? Is she, has she left money in her 

Adam Cox: trust for a cat? I guess perhaps she's done this. I don't know, I haven't looked into the details, but supposedly she's like second or third on the list, this cat. That's 

Kyle Risi: so stupid. Why? What, what happens when the cat dies? 

Adam Cox: Well, maybe you need to create a bloodline for that cat.

Kyle Risi: Possibly, to keep, to keep the lineage going. Yeah. Thing is though, there's going to be people that are, and I'm assuming it's going to be the case with Gunther, who are in charge of his estate, and are probably invested in A, keeping their job, because the dog only lives like 12 years, right? And then also exactly as you said, making sure the lineage carries on.

Kyle Risi: Yeah, 

Adam Cox: well that might be something that we'll cover today. Um, but Gunther's story has quite a few plot twists. Uh, and there was a point that he was so famous that he had a doggy body double, um, for security reasons, because there were certain public appearances that he needed to be protected, okay? Okay, like what?

Adam Cox: Um, I don't know, he was, yeah, he got a lot of attention at the time, in the 90s. That's mental. Um, so let's start with Gunther, this German shepherd, , he has actually racked up a net worth of 400 million with all the investments and business decisions that have been made.

Adam Cox: From the original 80 million that he received back in the 90s. And the thing is though, this dog probably 

Kyle Risi: has no bloody clue. He has no idea what he's got. 

Adam Cox: I mean, I think we'll go into it, but he has a life of luxury. So he's used to the finest things. He is, but he has no idea why. No, no, he 

Kyle Risi: doesn't. And where's the appreciation?

Kyle Risi: Where's the gratitude? 

Adam Cox: , he, well, I don't know. Um, but all this money came from this German countess. And her name was Carletta. Liebenstein. Liebe Liebesteinern. Um, yeah, that's very good. Uh, she lived in Munich and her husband was a university professor, uh, who came to Germany as a refugee from Hungary.

Adam Cox: They got their fortune from his pharmaceutical company, uh, which made them a lot of money. By the time that Carletta dies, she had no immediate family, um, other than her dog, Gunther the third. So when she died in 1992, she left her fortune to Gunther, making him the richest dog. God. So I'm just gonna show you a quick picture of Carletta.

Adam Cox: Oh yes, please. And the dog. So you can kind of build a picture of what these people look like and we'll put this in the show notes so you can take a look. Um, there we go. Oh yeah, so, 

Kyle Risi: I mean, she looks very opulent. Look at that fur coat, carrying a leather bag. And that dog is just a standard German shepherd, 

Adam Cox: right?

Adam Cox: Yeah. Um, I think you can swipe a couple more as well. Oh yeah. There's her in 

Kyle Risi: the snow. Yeah. She just looks like a rich old lady. Yeah. There's the dog. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Adam Cox: So that's Carletta, um, and, and Gunther. Now, of course, as you rightly pointed out already, a dog is probably not that great at money management.

Adam Cox: Uh, and it's probably not him that's making all these decisions. Um, so the trust was set up to make sure that the money stayed with Gunther III and all the Gunthers of his bloodline. Uh, so there's been several Gunthers since. Gunther IV, 

Kyle Risi: V and VI. Has there ever been any paternity disputes about, like, his offspring?

Kyle Risi: Like... Some illegitimate little bastard dogs coming through going. Gunther's my dad like you got to prove 

Adam Cox: it Well, I think there's been backup Gunthers There's always been like a couple of heirs ready to take over in case one dies 

Kyle Risi: based on the Countess's Requirements. Yeah. She's just putting on a 

Adam Cox: show.

Adam Cox: We'll get into it anyway, but this trust is responsible for looking after this money and investing in it wisely, okay? And ultimately, it's so the dog is looked after and the future dogs. So Gunther at one point had 27 employees, including PR, security, and attorney. he just speak German? Uh, well, he speaks dog. Woof. Um, he also has a personal chef and he would make Gunther a thick and juicy steak. Uh, which, which is... Topped with flakes of gold. Oh my god. Um, he also has a personal assistant and this personal assistant is essentially his owner now who looks after him and travels with him abroad, leads him on the business decisions, all sorts.

Adam Cox: And his name is Maurizio Mian. Okay. And as you might have guessed, he is Italian. Um, and he graduated from medical school specializing in pharmacology. Uh, he had been a university professor until the age of 37. Uh, then he quit because I think he achieved what he needed to. And, it was his parents that became friends with the Countess and her husband as they met at a conference to do with pharmaceuticals.

Adam Cox: So there's this kind of common ground which helped build their friendship over time. Maurizio knew the Countess very well and described her as a fantastic person, and that they don't make women like her anymore. Okay. Whatever that means. It's because she's classy.

Adam Cox: Classy. To him, she was a bit like an aunt, and Maurizio's Anne Carlotta, formed a bond over their love of animals. Uh, and the Countess's life wasn't a happy one because she lost her son, Gunther, to depression and he sadly committed suicide at 26. Oh, that's sad, but I see what's happening here. Um, so Maurizio knew, um, the son, Gunther, and they were really good friends.

Adam Cox: And so Gunther, the son's death, hits everyone really hard, and so Carlotta invests the love that she had for her son into her dog, Gunther, who she names after her son, uh, but her life is not the same again, and Maurizio says that while she had all this money, it didn't buy her happiness. And so she later becomes sick, and at the point where she has no direct relatives to pass this fortune on to.

Adam Cox: Initially, Maurizio's mother is put in charge of the trust, but as she got older and her health deteriorated, she asked Maurizio, her son, to take over the trust and look after the dog, and that basically opened up lots of opportunities for Maurizio, and he essentially could now do whatever he wanted within reason with that money.

Adam Cox: Right. So he goes on holidays, and has trips with the dog, and makes all these business decisions on Gunther's behalf. Soon Gunther, through Maurizio and his team, start to own multiple properties and businesses across two continents and the trust grows and grows.

Adam Cox: Hence why the offspring, of Gunther is said to be worth up to 400 million. Um, some of this is clearly led by Maurizio and he wants certain property or wants to buy a boat but the trust is making enough money. Um, that this is possible for him to have these things plus Maurizio is guided by what Carletta leaves in the will, uh, how the money is to be used is inspired by her son.

Adam Cox: So her son loved to travel, loved music, and she wanted those investments to honour her son. 

Kyle Risi: Right, I see. This all just seems really fishy. Like, he has obviously commandeered all this wealth. And he's playing within the rules that are set by the will. And like, he doesn't give a shit about this dog. He just cares about the money, and this is the way of him being able to capitalise on that wealth.

Kyle Risi: For himself. 

Adam Cox: 100%. Well that's interesting theory and that's what I think a lot of people thought because some of the decisions, that Maurizio makes I guess he's just aligned them to what was said in the will but there is perhaps a self interest there that 

Kyle Risi: he's 100 percent because it's a bloody dog for god's sake.

Kyle Risi: And it's not even just one dog, there's like several dogs, there's offspring and all 

Adam Cox: sorts. Yeah, , but you know, I think now's a good time to talk about some of the things that Maurizio did with that money. Do it. Okay, so, one of the first things he did because Gunther the son liked music.

Adam Cox: Oh, God's sake. Was he released a song. Do we want to hear this? We, we do want to hear it. I'll tell you a little bit about it first. So the song was called Wild Dog by The Gunther Group.

Kyle Risi: Okay... 

Adam Cox: And the music video features random shots of the group performing, dogs running wild, and people tearing down a fence. Mian likens the music to The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and John Lennon. Do 

Kyle Risi: not liken dog music. To some of the greats. Just don't do it! Well, 

Adam Cox: just have that in mind. Okay. As we have, as we listen to just a little bit of it.

Adam Cox: Go on, I'm 

Kyle Risi: in suspense, do it. 

Adam Cox: This is 

Kyle Risi: so German techno. Oh my god.

Adam Cox: I actually really 

Kyle Risi: like it. It's 

Adam Cox: okay. 

Kyle Risi: I can't 

Adam Cox: hear what the words are. Something about wild dog. Okay, 

Kyle Risi: that is enough. Put that away. I 

Adam Cox: mean, questionable dog barking aside, I actually, yeah, I like it. Um, but I'm not quite sure it's the lyrical genius of, you know, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. 100 percent not!

Adam Cox: Amazing. Yeah. So... 

Kyle Risi: God! 

Adam Cox: And also I should add, I don't know if that's Gunther that's providing the vocals for that track, or another dog. Oh, 

Kyle Risi: just a stand, like a, what do you call it? Not like a ghost rider, but a ghost singer. Possibly. When someone sings on his behalf. I wonder who that was, like, how did they audition for that?

Kyle Risi: I don't know. Or was it just like a soundbite that they 

Adam Cox: got from like Pixabay? Possibly, who knows? Um, but that song was supposed to send a message about humans and animals living in a utopian world, apparently.

Adam Cox: Maurizio he actually says that Gone for the Sun would have liked that, that song. Yeah, but there's no way of knowing that. There's no way of knowing that. I 

Kyle Risi: doubt that. I doubt that. I mean, he has to protect his brand. He has to say that 

Adam Cox: for the brand's sake. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how well it charted and I don't think there was a follow up song.

Adam Cox: Um, , but that didn't put a down on Maurizio's music plans. No. Uh, but first things first, uh, the trust was looking for new properties abroad. And in the early 2000s, Miami was the place to be. Oh wow! Hang 

Kyle Risi: on, early 2000s? So this wasn't even that long 

Adam Cox: ago. No. Damn! No. Um, so I think the song was released in the 90s, but what happened next was in 2000s.

Adam Cox: Okay. Uh, so, um, Maurizio had set his eyes on a particular mansion. Mm hmm. In Miami. In Miami. And this mansion belonged to Madonna. Okay. Is she still living there? Well, it was up for sale, and Gunther buys it for seven and a half million in cash. Wow. In fact, there's a cheque that is to Madonna that is signed Gunther with his paw print. That's amazing. Um, so this place is a 51, 000 square foot plot with a hundred feet of water around it. It features loads of landscaping, , open water, city views and a pool, a fountain and a dock where Gunther enjoyed soaking up the sun when visiting Miami from Italy.

Adam Cox: So, Gunther managed to make 23 million profit when he sells the mansion in 2019. And it was that 

Kyle Risi: because it was owned by a dog. So it had that provenance and that prestige that came with it. That novelty factor. Oh, this is owned by the world's richest dog. Yeah. That marks up the price by like 300%.

Adam Cox: I think that's an element, obviously inflation and everything, and it's been, I'd guess, 15 odd years. Since it was bought. So it went for about 31 million. Uh, and even Madonna commented when it was sold again, she posted a photo of her looking slightly deflated with a caption. When you find out a dog is selling your old house for three times the amount you sold it for 

Kyle Risi: outstanding.

Adam Cox: It's a good investment, I think. And Maurizio says that it's one of the highlights of his life buying that house. Mm-Hmm. and, and selling it. I think so. Yeah, a good memory. But hang on, whose life? Maurizio's. 

Kyle Risi: Okay, again, there's my point. Case in point. Gunther's like, 

Adam Cox: Where's my damn steak? 

Kyle Risi: And Maurizio's like, goddammit Gunther, keep quiet.

Kyle Risi: I gotta sell this house. I don't care. I'm the world's richest dog. 

Adam Cox: Where's my damn steak? Where's my chew 

Kyle Risi: toy? Where are my balls? 

Adam Cox: But before the mansion is sold on, um, it becomes a place for Maurizio's next project. Uh, and as I say, he's trying to fulfill, uh, Carletta's wishes in honoring her son.

Adam Cox: So he starts a pop group called the Burgundians. Okay. Which I think the name comes from an early Germanic tribe or a group of tribes, so possibly honouring Carlotta in that way. Now this was listed in part of the guidance from the Countess in terms of how the money should be used and that there should be a group formed.

Adam Cox: With Gunther, the dog. So she stipulated this in 

Kyle Risi: her will? In the 

Adam Cox: will. She's batshit crazy as well. So there were these explicit instructions, they held auditions for the band and they wanted three women and two guys and the dog, uh, of course. Uh, it's kind of like a Steps S Clubs kind of vibe if you kind of got that idea.

Adam Cox: Horrendous. Yep. Um, well, you know, they were good for their time. But one of the guys ended up working with Gunther and the Trust for years afterwards. and becomes a bit of a spokesperson. And one of the women would actually marry Maurizio, but they did later divorce. Like pop groups of the 90s and noughties, their look was important.

Adam Cox: They were young and the idea was to have dance routines and that sort of clean image. And this was a huge opportunity for them because they had all this investment behind them. They got to live in this incredible mansion in Miami, be treated to, you know, really nice food, trips abroad. And all they had to do was kind of follow these rules, work hard and ensure that it was all centered around the dock.

Adam Cox: Sure, singing and dancing. Coaches would visit the mansion to help them choreograph routines. However, it becomes quickly apparent that the group of people that they've got aren't necessarily the best singer. Nor the best dancers, uh, they're purely there for their looks.

Adam Cox: Oh, I see. And I think some of the group knew that, but they were there to enjoy themselves and the lifestyle while it lasted. There's a bit of a revolving door with the group. Some would come and go, but there always had to be five members. And there were these clear casting instructions on how they had to look.

Adam Cox: Mm hmm. Here are just some of the requirements. Go. The Gunther boys are young, good looking, vigorous, well built and finely balanced. The two boys... Hang on. 

Kyle Risi: Finely balanced? What does that mean? I don't know. What the hell does boy finally balanced mean? Am I finely balanced? 

Adam Cox: I guess not too much, um, body area.

Adam Cox: I don't know what that means. 

Kyle Risi: Does it mean that if you push me over I'm just gonna fall over? Always not well balanced. But if you push me and I like kind of bounce back a bit or maybe I'll stay steady on my feet. Is that a 

Adam Cox: requirement? I think it's just like a good body, I'm guessing is what they mean by that.

Adam Cox: You know, all the muscle in the right places. Right. Um, the two boys should look like Gerald of G Squad or Steve of Worlds Apart. Okay, I'm assuming they're bands. Yeah, I think they are. Possibly with more muscles and blonde hair than those people there. The three girls should look like Pamela Anderson, Victoria Spice Girls, et cetera.

Adam Cox: Et cetera. Uh, like the cover girls of today's stardom, but with jaunty buttocks. Um, and the persons of the group should offer a strong idea of beauty and almost robotic machine like empty image. I don't know what that actually means. Say that last bit again. So the persons of the group should offer a strong idea of beauty and almost robotic machine like empty image.

Kyle Risi: A machine like empty image. What does that even mean? Is that a sex 

Adam Cox: doll vibe? I have no idea. It makes no sense. And I can't imagine these are instructions from Gunth the dog. Otherwise, that's one horny and slightly twisted dog. That is. 

Kyle Risi: And what I reckon is that this is all just translated from German into English.

Adam Cox: And that's why. Or Italian or whatever. I think it probably is a bad translation there. Um, but these members were happy to go along with that, and with some weird directions they were given, um, they got to go on all these trips and live that glamorous lifestyle. But what struck some of the members as a bit odd, as during auditions or rehearsals, some members of the team behind the band or the project would wear these lab coats, and now they weren't exactly doctors, but they quickly started to become aware of an ulterior motive behind this band.

Adam Cox: Right. There was an experiment going on. So these people within the band were monitored 24 7 with cameras and supervised sessions of how they interacted other, how they behaved with the dog, and there were certain requirements the group members needed to undertake to be part of this band.

Adam Cox: Okay. I think it was clear in the contract, so it wasn't like a huge surprise to them. Um, but it was all under this guise of making a pop group. So these scientists with Maurizio were trying to remove all forms of stress from their lives to understand what brings joy to people, what are the key components for happiness.

Adam Cox: Your 

Kyle Risi: face. You need to get to the bloody point, because I have no idea what's happening here. So 

Adam Cox: they had to live by these 13 commandments, which were somewhat related to this, like, schedule of work that had been given. Okay. Now I don't know if these were daily tasks, but this was some of the guidance and rules they had to follow.

Adam Cox: Three hours for sports or swimming. Okay. Four hours for acting, singing, dancing, show production. Two hours for meals and execution of experiments. Okay. Two hours studying and preparation of business related activities. And two hours for sex. With who? 

Kyle Risi: Each other. I'm so confused.

Kyle Risi: What was happening? Why do they, why have you put so much emphasis on this lab coat? 

Adam Cox: Well, it's because there's this kind of, I don't know, this scientific experiment happening, but then you've got this five good looking group of people that were put in a house . Encouraged to have sex with each other, and then they had to like report back on who they had sex within the week, how many times, and all these weird 

Kyle Risi: things.

Kyle Risi: Okay, stop, stop the show. Something's going on here. like this has got nothing to do with the boy band or the girl band or the, the, the, the, the pop group at all. Someone is living out their deepest, darkest, twisted sexual fantasies here for sure, 100%. 

Adam Cox: Well, some likened it to a sex cult. Yeah! Yes! 

Kyle Risi: This is the sex cult you were talking about.

Kyle Risi: God damn it! 

Adam Cox: Um, apparently one time they were even given acid, uh, see how they behaved on that as well. All in the quest to find happiness. 

Kyle Risi: Well, I mean if you're having sex with a bunch of vacuint, what's the word, that they use these sex toy 

Adam Cox: girls. Robotic. Robotic 

Kyle Risi: vacuint style women then I don't know how happy could you be?

Kyle Risi: Like, or maybe you, maybe you're into, I don't know just move on. 

Adam Cox: Now, some of the group were fine. They played along with the rules, essentially. Um, but they didn't like it when they found out that they might have been secretly filmed having sex.

Adam Cox: Right. And so that wasn't part of the deal. No. Uh, and Neighbours also complained about what was going on in this mansion, so I guess if you think about it, they're in like this really nice area in Miami, and there's all these leaks in the news about this orgy mansion and stuff like that going on, and so it put like a lot of bad news and press towards the dog and everything like that, and so eventually the Burgundians was stopped and the band ceased to exist.

Kyle Risi: Wow. Brought down by rich 

Adam Cox: Miami neighbors. Yeah. So, next up for Gunther and Maurizio. I'm not surprised! 

Kyle Risi: I'm not surprised! What the hell? Did, like, did they come away from that damage at all? Did they sue? 

Adam Cox: I would have sued. Well, one of the group, like I said, married Maurizio, um, and actually became like a business partner, even though they're divorced.

Adam Cox: Oh, or his second wife. Uh, well he's had a few wives and girlfriends. Okay, so he's 

Kyle Risi: already been married and then they divorce and then this is his new wife from the group. 

Adam Cox: Or was she the first wife? I don't know if she was the first wife, but she was a wife that they got married at the time, but they did divorce, but they're still on good terms.

Adam Cox: I see. And then another guy, he was a spokesperson that kind of been kept within the Gunther's trust. Mm hmm. So some people were absolutely fine with it Others don't want to be associated it with it anymore. Sure. So yeah, there we go. Interesting

Adam Cox: So next up for Gunther and Maurizio was investing in a football club So through the Gunther fund Gunther became the owner of two football clubs. Okay, but that's not all Because, for one of the clubs, he appoints a porn star, Ilona Stella, one of the faces of the football club and gets the title, Godmother of the football club.

Adam Cox: Oh my god, 

Kyle Risi: hang on, I just have to pause you there. I'm getting deja vu here. Okay. I'M sure, I'm 100 percent sure, that Eurotrash covered this. Possibly. This is so Eurotrash, isn't it? I can just imagine the voiceover going, oh and Gunther the dog and like, oh, he owns a football club and If you haven't seen Eurotrash, you have to, you have to look this up because what's incredible about it Is that the host of Eurotrash is, did you know this?

Kyle Risi: Did you know who the Eurotrash 

Adam Cox: is? I was, um, what's his name that, uh, John Paul John Paul 

Kyle Risi: Gaultier. Yes, sir. Actually, John Paul Gaultier is the host of Eurotrash and it is just horrendous. I used to watch that growing up when I was like a preteen. That was my first access to actual porn, but there was all sorts of other crap on there as well.

Kyle Risi: Like they would have like bogey competitions where like people from around like Germany or Europe would like. Pick their bogeys, and then they would save their bogeys, dry them out, and then they would go to these, like, little conferences where they would just share their bogeys and hand them around.

Kyle Risi: And some of them would be really long, and they would, like, store them in these test tubes. That's gross. That's the type of stuff that they would have, and of of course, of course, Lola Ferrari. The world's biggest breasts. She ended up 

Adam Cox: dying, didn't she? Yeah, was it back pain? 

Kyle Risi: I think maybe she suffocated some kind of heart defect or something from how big her breasts were but she had to 

Adam Cox: sleep on her back, didn't she?

Adam Cox: yeah., Eurotrash was kind of brilliant. It's weird that there's no kind of show like that now, can you imagine? I don't think it would be allowed. Probably not, 

Kyle Risi: no. But, I mean, watching old reruns of it is just incredible. 

Adam Cox: So as I was saying, um, Gunther now owns a football club with a porn star, Ilona Staller, and Staller was the first woman to bear her breasts 1978.

Adam Cox: What a title to have. Yeah, 

Kyle Risi: and I'm surprised it took them long. 

Adam Cox: Remember, this is Europe. Yeah, um, so Maurizio then employed another porn star, Valentin Demi, to be the president alongside Gunther. Um, and I'll be honest, I'm not quite sure I get the connection, aside from publicity and notoriety. that this would bring.

Adam Cox: It gets headlines, right? But surely they're not doing anything that meaningful. No, they're probably just 

Kyle Risi: figureheads or ambassadors or something like that to draw, to draw in the crowds, 

Adam Cox: right? Yeah, I think that's it. I think they're, they're not necessarily uh, Premier League clubs. I don't think they were.

Adam Cox: Maybe one of them was and one of them wasn't. Um, but Valentin Demi did describe that some of her duties... That she was responsible for raising morale with the male football team, no pun intended. But she does say there was no minimal or administrative duties. Righty o. It's quite an easy job.

Adam Cox: Yeah, just 

Kyle Risi: show up, get your breasts out, pat 

Adam Cox: the dog. So yeah, this gained a huge amount of interest in the news. You have the dog being left with this fortune, buying Madonna's house, releasing a record, creating a pop group, buying a football club, and then owning it with porn stars.

Adam Cox: Gunther was like consistently in the news with all these different ambitions and goals that were going on. This poor dog, being exploited. But yeah, and I think it's at this point you have to question, was this really part of the Countess's plan? Was it, is this what she wanted for Gunther? 

Kyle Risi: I'm gonna, I'm gonna...

Kyle Risi: Say no. Like, this is not really, like, this Maurizio guy is definitely milking this. Yeah. He's playing by the rules, but he's still milking it. Is he 

Adam Cox: abusing his position, maybe, slightly? Using that money in his kind of interests? Well, how much 

Kyle Risi: is he getting paid? Does he, because he's acting like the manager or the beneficiary of the will or whatever you want to call it.

Kyle Risi: The, the head of the, head of the foundation. Yeah. So he's obviously getting paid. 

Adam Cox: He's getting, yeah, he's taking a salary from the trust. I don't know how much, but... Let's say it's 

Kyle Risi: 10%, right? So Gunther originally was worth 80 million. He grew this wealth, obviously I'm assuming years later, to 400 million. 10 percent of that...

Adam Cox: 40 million, yeah. Yeah, it's mental. Quite possibly, yeah. Um, so I think people have caught on to this a little bit. They're questioning Maurizio's, um... Goals or motivations behind this and so they dig a little deeper into his history. Oh God and How he came to look after the dog in the first place What was his or his family's background?

Adam Cox: Why were they looking after the dog's money? mmm, and what was discovered is Maurizio and his family had been playing within the lines of what was legal and Sort of bending the truth a little bit 

Kyle Risi: bending the truth in regards to what 

Adam Cox: Well, as we know, Maurizio's mother was involved with pharmaceuticals.

Adam Cox: Yes.. Along with the countess and her husband. But what was kept a secret for quite a considerable amount of time.

Adam Cox: Was his mother was the president of a pharmaceutical company founded by Maurizio's great grandfather Which co developed a drug called Fosamax otherwise known as an Allergenic acid And this was widely used to reverse bone loss or be it has now been taken off the market because of some side effects Okay.

Adam Cox: But this made the business very successful and Rizio's family had a lot of money from this drug. Mm hmm. So much money that they needed to find the best way to retain and invest that money like a lot of rich people would do. And what do a lot of rich people do? They want to avoid taxes. Yes. sO the taxes in Italy were very high and so a big chunk of their fortune...

Adam Cox: They would have had to say goodbye to. And Maurizio's mother was thinking about the family's future generations. How do they save this money for them? See where this is going? 

Kyle Risi: I think so. Keep going. I think 

Adam Cox: so. Maurizio's mother had been depositing the profits from the company into a bank within Lechenstein.

Adam Cox: Now Lechenstein is a bit of a tax haven. Yes. you're saying it wrong. Am I? 

Kyle Risi: I think it's Lichtenstein. 

Adam Cox: Lichtenstein. I think so. Sorry, yeah, I'll say it right now. Lichtenstein levies no income taxes against any company that has a permanent home there, provided the company does not receive Lichtenstein source income.

Adam Cox: Okay, 

Kyle Risi: I'm not quite there yet, but keep going. I think the penny's going to drop 

Adam Cox: in a second. So the income, I guess, even though the bank accounts in this country, the income is being generated, I think, from outside of that country. Yes. So I think that means it's playing within those rules, right? So tax evasion is against Italian law, and there's a big crackdown on tax evaders in the 80s.

Adam Cox: And so the money to be kept, They put their money in someone else's name In a Lichtenstein's bank account. So we talking the Countess, right? Yes. I see. So all the money in this bank account was under Carlotta, the Countess name, but actually belonged to Mauricio's family. I see. 

Kyle Risi: Sneaky. See, I knew something was up.

Kyle Risi: I knew it. I 

Adam Cox: knew it. Yeah, the money was never hers in the first place. It always belonged to them. And then they needed a 

Kyle Risi: creative way of getting the money back to him. I will leave it to the dog and then I will be the beneficiary of that, or the trustee of that, that, that 

Adam Cox: trust. Yeah, so it was, it was kept with the Countess, but then when she became sick, they needed to find a way to get it back to them.

Adam Cox: Hence why they set up this trust. So between Maurizio's mother and the Countess, they decided to place that money under the Countess dog, Gunther. With the money then going to Maurizio's mother to look after it as part of the trust set up in Gunther the dog's name. And then this would eventually be passed on to Maurizio.

Adam Cox: Because I think, uh, yeah, that was kind of the rules or bending the rules with Italian law because it's a trust, it's a pet, . I'm with 

Kyle Risi: you. So, basically, a big bloody hoax. 

Adam Cox: It's a lie. This was all unravelled for the family, but because the money was put into that trust, no legal action was ever taken against Maurizio or his family.

Adam Cox: And Maurizio still wanted to honour the close relationship between the two families, the Countess and her son, Gunther. And so Maurizio still talks about having such a good friendship with him, And so the intention for how the money was spent was still intended to honour Gunther, but at the same time, it was totally up to Maurizio, however he spent it.

Adam Cox: And so if he wanted a yacht, he can get a yacht. If he wanted to create a pop band, he can do that. What about if he 

Kyle Risi: wanted to euthanise Gunther? Um... This is all like, but Gunther 

Adam Cox: had to be alive, right? Gunther had to be alive, and they still had to commit to having that bloodline of future dogs because they needed to protect the trust for the future, right?

Adam Cox: They can't get rid of Gunther. Yeah, yeah. That's part of the 

Kyle Risi: plan. I wonder what happens if, let's say, Gunther died, and there wasn't a bloodline. Like, what happens to that money? I guess everything gets dissolved, and then the taxes have to be paid, and... I 

Adam Cox: guess so. And this is why they have several backups.

Adam Cox: So that, that can't happen, I guess. Yeah. Can't 

Kyle Risi: Gunther just create a new will and leave everything to Maurizio? 

Adam Cox: Um, I don't know. How would you sign off on that? Poor. 

Kyle Risi: Like on the cheque. 

Adam Cox: Yeah, that's true. Um, so, so essentially, Gunther the dog is a bit of a promotional tool and a guise to not pay tax and build the family's empire for future generations, uh, allowing Maurizio to pursue his personal projects. So yeah, that's the story of Gunther's Million. What? That's it? No. 

Kyle Risi: Oh, okay. 

Adam Cox: There's more. There's more. Let's do it! So Maurizio's attempt with the Burgundians didn't quite work out, but his determination, but his determination to find happiness through a social experiment continued, this time in Italy.

Adam Cox: And so a reality TV show called E Magnifici The Magnificent Five. Okay. Interesting. Probably pronunciation there. Yeah, it's 

Kyle Risi: not in your blood like, like it is with me, so I can forgive you for not being able to speak good Italian. 

Adam Cox: All right. All right. Mario, it's me. Yeah. 

Kyle Risi: Like 

Adam Cox: that. See, see that? Yeah.

Adam Cox: Beautiful. It's like I was in Italy. Yeah. And 

Kyle Risi: like, it's the hand movements and the hand gestures that you need. You don't have it in you like I do. So you, it doesn't really come through. You've got to like really be really animated with your hands. Not 

Adam Cox: that anyone can see this, but. There's a lot of animation going on.

Adam Cox: Yeah, it's because it's not in your blood. Okay, well, um, back to this TV show. It aired in 2017. And it featured, might sound a bit familiar, five good looking individuals. And they were put into a house, so they weren't making a pop group this time around. I guess you can think of it like a bit like Big Brother or whatever, where these.

Adam Cox: This group was followed around doing whatever they were doing, but this time they had to wear necklaces which measured Which measured their progress against five goals in life Okay, which were very similar to these 13 commandments that they had to do in the pop group. Yeah. Yeah, so things like physicality

Adam Cox: Sex, Fame, and then one was related to science, I think. And so these values were listed on these individual necklaces, and these values would light up as they accomplished these achievements in their life. So who's deciding that? Well... Obviously, it's not really linked to them actually, it's the scientists that are watching them and then scores them and go yes, you can now go up to level 2 on whatever it is.

Adam Cox: And 

Kyle Risi: it's not in their life, it's while they're in this house, I'm assuming. 

Adam Cox: Yeah, exactly that. Um, and whilst these values, you know, are potentially important in human relationships and ambitions, they're pretty shallow In some ways and it's not linked to anything wholesome and it's all hedonistic really.

Adam Cox: And so these members were told to participate in planned mating and procreate a generation. 

Kyle Risi: Oh my god, why are they calling a planned 

Kyle Risi: mating? 

Adam Cox: Planned mating. I'm putting that in. Quotation marks. Just call it date night. 

Adam Cox: But this is the weird thing. 

Adam Cox: I'm 

Adam Cox: gonna 

Adam Cox: start referring to that from now on. What? Adam, it's Wednesday night.

Adam Cox: It's planned mating.. 

Adam Cox: Gross. That's not a good way to do it. , 

Adam Cox: Um, so, yes. We've got this plan meeting, and then also, they're encouraged to procreate a generation of truly happy people. Which was, what they were getting at is, they wanted to find the key to happiness, and if these five people were happy, then they could all...

Adam Cox: have babies and then create almost this superhuman race of people that were just happy. That was the purpose of this experiment. If 

Kyle Risi: you mate while you're plan mating, while you're happy and you conceive a child during this moment of happiness, the offspring will be happy. Yep. Regardless of anything else in his 

Adam Cox: life.

Adam Cox: Yep, and therefore you're kind of ridding the world of depression and anything negative. So don't have 

Kyle Risi: sad sex. Don't do it! Bad babies, you'll come out. Depressed little kids. 

Adam Cox: Um, so yeah, why Maurizio is obsessed with finding happiness it's kind of odd really. He does reference Gunther, the son's depression as a motivation and perhaps combined with his pharmaceutical background, he does have a genuine desire to really try and crack depression and find this happiness, the key to it.

Adam Cox: Um, and so that does sort of honor his friendship and everything with the Countess. Some, however, still criticise this experiment as weird, I mean, it is, and believe that trying to find these individuals that were truly happy to create this superior human race was just dumb.

Adam Cox: It's so dumb. Uh, again, it's a bit like a weird cult. And this obsession really made people start to ask even more questions because someone... That is trying to find his happiness. Perhaps they're not happy themselves. No. 

Kyle Risi: Someone completely obsessed with trying to crack this. 

Adam Cox: Hmm. So why, what was this truly about? Was he really doing this for Gunther the son? 

Kyle Risi: No. I reckon. He's probably got some kind of drug lined up from this pharmaceutical company that can promise. Long life and happiness. How much you want to bet that's the 

Adam Cox: case?

Adam Cox: Interesting theory and there is a plot twist. Okay. It's not that. Okay. What if I told you that the German countess is not real? She never existed. What do you mean? . What? So...

Adam Cox: So...

Kyle Risi: What? How? Okay. You need to get on with it because I am dying. Dying. What 

Adam Cox: happened? I love this story. Okay. So in fact, news about the Countess being made up had been reported multiple times throughout the nineties and the noughties, you know, and Maurizio even admits that Countess is not real. He says that she was an avatar and that, in fact, the photos of Carlotta was just one of his aunts.

Adam Cox: Really? And it's reported, but I guess it never gets enough traction in the media because the story is so, like, fantastical, if that's a word, that that gets more attention than the actual truth. Right, I see, I see. So, um... 

Kyle Risi: But surely that can't be legal then, right? Everything that he's done by putting all this money into a trust in Lichtenstein...

Kyle Risi: Surely under this pretense that it's a trust from this Countess, whose name was on the trust that was set up in Lichtenstein,, 

Adam Cox: well, there are still some bits that are true, but the German Countess isn't true, I guess. And so they still set up this trust, uh, And, um, they still are playing within these parameters that is what's legal and not legal in Italy.

Adam Cox: So basically, they have 

Kyle Risi: a big team of lawyers that help them kind of skid across kind of that boundary of what's allowed and what's not, basically. 

Adam Cox: Yeah, yeah. Um, so, in fact, there was a German woman. So that bit is true. She's just not a countess. Well, there's, there's probably millions of German women. Okay, so they knew a German woman.

Adam Cox: Okay. And, um. And so there is a documentary about this, and they say that they can't reveal the true identity of this person. Allegedly. Why? I don't know. I guess because, obviously it's a little Because, 

Kyle Risi: because there's something shady going on. 

Adam Cox: Probably. Um, but they said that this German woman was good friends with Maurizio's mother, and therefore a good fit to take on this, um, sort of Role of the Countess.

Adam Cox: The Sly, yeah. And, um, that's, that's who they use to kind of do the bank account and everything. So that bit was true. There was a German woman. She wasn't a Countess and she didn't own Gunther the Dog. 

Kyle Risi: Okay, so that bit's true, but it's not true that 

Adam Cox: she was a Countess. Yeah. So if the Countess is not real, what does that mean for Gunther the Son?

Kyle Risi: Oh, that's, that's wrong. That's rude. 

Adam Cox: So Maurizio admits that this was probably a way of him coping with his own demons and depression. And that perhaps Gunther was a projection of himself. Because Maurizio wanted to travel, he wanted to find happiness, he wanted to make music. Hence all these projects that he did under sort of Gunther's name.

Adam Cox: And the fact that he made up, the story of the Countess and Gunther the son, that the son commits suicide at the age of 26, is perhaps a bit of an insight into how Maurizio was feeling at that time in his life. And so whenever he talks about the son, it's thought that this is when he's going through a period of deep depression and stuff like that.

Adam Cox: It's kind of projecting. Okay, so this 

Kyle Risi: is starting to make sense now. So he's the one that's looking for the happiness. Hence these different experiences. Well, so he's really tackling some demons. Yeah. I mean, it's not right, but I'm feeling a bit more sympathy towards him, but I shouldn't be. And that's because the storytelling that you're creating has made me feel sympathy for him, which is wrong.

Kyle Risi: He's still. Done this big mass of fraud which is illegal in Italy. 

Adam Cox: Well, yes. I, I mean, yeah, he's definitely, like I say, he's scared around what's legal and what's not legal. Mm mm mm. Um, I think he's got bipolar, um, and I think that You think? And I think This guy's batshit 

Kyle Risi: crazy! 

Adam Cox: Yeah,, I think you should have some sympathy for him.

Adam Cox: The way he's gone about some of these actions. Aren't right, but I don't know. I think he's kind of meant well, um, at times. As for the dog, well, uh, There was a dog who was called Gunther, but he belonged to Maurizio's ex girlfriend.

Adam Cox: Okay. Who he was seeing at the time. Uh huh. Um, and... I don't think the dog was called Gunther III, I think it was probably just called Gunther, but again they added this element. 

Kyle Risi: Of course, because otherwise you can't have like, a dog owned by the Countess, who's just called Gunther. It has to be like Gunther III.

Kyle Risi: Gunther Bartholomew, Cicero... McDougal. 

Adam Cox: McDougal. The third. Yeah, it's a nice name. Um, uh, is said that he, he did love this dog a lot. He would spend a lot of time with him. Um, and so he decided that this dog would take on the face of the Gunther Trust. Uh, the dog became important to the plan for the trust fund and, and Maurizio really felt like Gunther was his best friend.

Adam Cox: Uh, however, his wild plan almost didn't happen as the dog was really poorly at the time. suffering from osteoporosis and a fractured leg. Yeah, 

Kyle Risi: dogs suffer from, that's bone stuff, right? In the back 

Adam Cox: legs. Yeah, so this was around 1984. Uh, so Gunther was really sick with this condition.

Adam Cox: And so Maurizio started treating the dog with these osteoporosis drugs, which I believe, and I don't know for sure, but I believe they were the same drugs his mother's company were making at the time. Rightio, okay. And Gunther's health improved, and this story became a huge success, helping to bring attention to the pharmaceutical company, and Maurizio was on TV with the dog, talking about how well it went.

Adam Cox: And this exposure really highlighted or helped to highlight other studies that the pharmaceutical company was doing, uh, helped to sort of look into the sort of depression, and so it was a bit of a publicity stunt. It kind of helped, you know, raise the profile of the company and the business. Yeah. But after Gunther's condition healed, Maurizio made...

Adam Cox: the dog, the scent of his aspirations. But in 1992, the story of Gunther's recovery had started to fade. So the story of the Countess was created to then kind of get more attention back, essentially. And that was inspired by the German woman friend who was, you know, um, sick and, you know, was helping with the tax evasions.

Adam Cox: And so this idea, ensuring the fortune could be passed down to Gunther and the future bloodlines of the dog was created not only to help avoid tax, but as a way to kind of bring, you know, and publicize the philosophy of the foundation. Around 1992, Gunther III was dying and he already had a puppy backup in the, uh, in the lineup called Gunther IV.

Adam Cox: Which is one puppy. One puppy, uh, which was technically Marizia's dog and the one to get the fortune. And so to continue the line of dogs, Marizia set up a breeding facility that would give birth to Gunther V and Gunther VI. Um, and there were plenty of backups, as I mentioned, um, but the rumors that the subsequent Hang on, how do they 

Kyle Risi: choose who's going to be the next in line?

Kyle Risi: Because normally it's based on like, the eldest son, right? 

Adam Cox: I guess so, but then it might 

Kyle Risi: But how do they know? They have to keep an eye out for like, the first 

Adam Cox: one to pop out. But then it might be looking at the healthiest one as well, so maybe it's not always the oldest, it might be like, the most prime looking.

Adam Cox: So 

Kyle Risi: do you think that if your parents were going through deciding their will, and they based that on who was the fittest, healthiest offspring, which one of you four siblings do you think they would have chosen? Oh, me totally. 

Adam Cox: Kidding. 

Kyle Risi: Who would have been the one that they would have been like, Hmm, yeah, we've got to get rid of this one.

Kyle Risi: This one's the. 

Adam Cox: Runt of the litter. No, I think we're all quite healthy. Really? 

Kyle Risi: You don't think it's Vicky?

Adam Cox: Anyway, um, there is a rumour that actually Maurizio, uh, had clones of Gunther created. Um, but I don't know if that's just a rumour that Maurizio started to kind of create more attention and stuff like that. He sounds the sort. He does, doesn't he? He's got a record for it. In January 2020 though, uh, Italian police rescued 50 dogs from the breeder after finding them, like, malnourished, kept in really small and poor living conditions in Tuscany.

Adam Cox: And so all these dogs have been nursed back to health now, which is great, but the bloodline that they were kind of producing wasn't really being looked after that well. Supposedly Maurizio was not aware of the state of the place and, um, I think he does show regret for what was happening to these dogs, um, given that I think he does generally care about animals and Gunther and everything that was going on.

Adam Cox: And so Maurizio is now on a quest to buy an island where animals in need can roam free. SEX ISLAND! I think it's more of a, well, maybe there's some planned mating for them, I don't 

Kyle Risi: know. Probably, and I don't believe for a second that he wants to buy the island for whatever, like a dog sanctuary. It's for the third experiment that he wants to.

Kyle Risi: An island of happy happiness. 

Adam Cox: Well, that's not what he says at this moment in time, but yeah, he's wanting to buy this island to kind of create this sanctuary for animals to roam free and for like humans and animals to live in this kind of harmony, which is kind of what he's tried to get at , with the Miami house and other things that he's done, but he's gone about it in a very, very weird way.

Adam Cox: And, as I said, Maurizio says that he doesn't think he's done anything wrong, except to avoid taxes through a technical device, is what he says. A technical device? Yeah. Um. What does that mean? Well, I guess, a loophole. Okay. 

Kyle Risi: Fair enough. Why don't you just say loophole? Okay. Not you. I'm not judging you. Oh, okay.

Kyle Risi: I'm having a go at Maurizio. Just call it a loophole. Maybe it's a rich people 

Adam Cox: thing. I don't know. Technical device. And so, I don't think he's found the island yet, so he's still searching, and, you know, Gunther the Sixth is still kicking about. I don't know if there's Gunther the Seventh lined up.

Adam Cox: But that is the story of Maurizio and the tale of Gunther's fortune. Wow. 

Kyle Risi: Big, massive hoax. And I'm not surprised he's not found the island yet. Can you imagine, like, what are you going to use the island for? Um, well, yeah, um, so I've got like a bunch of dogs and a bunch of humans and like, I'm batshit crazy and yeah, I'm just gonna like, I'll do some planned meeting with the dogs.

Kyle Risi: Um, and then of course people are going to be like, Pl Sorry, what was that last thing? Yeah, a bit of plan mating. And then we're going to like, have like a little kibbutz over here and like a tea Hang on, back up. Plan mating? What is that? Yeah, you know, just a bit of casual sex with the dogs.

Kyle Risi: And then we're going to have like a swimming pool over here and like, Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! I'm not selling the island to you! And that's why he hasn't been able to 

Adam Cox: find the island. Do you think he's trying to make a superhuman dog species? 

Kyle Risi: He's

Kyle Risi: involved in pharmaceuticals, he's batshit crazy, 

Adam Cox: probably.

Adam Cox: Probably. Um, so I've only kind of skimmed the surface . If you want more information then there is an excellent four part series of Gunther's Millions on Netflix. What? Yeah. On Netflix? On Netflix. Yeah, we'll leave some more information, um, in the show notes if you're interested in finding out a little bit more.

Kyle Risi: Wow, what a brilliant story. And do you know what, I knew from the start it was a hoax. It must have been, because like, I mean I was captivated by it initially, but overall these things don't really turn out.

Kyle Risi: Like when there's such a fantastical story like this, it's never what you think. Do you know what I mean? Exactly. So while it was amazing to find out that it was a big massive hoax, I'm also not surprised in hindsight and also a little bit angry that you duped me into believing that possibly this could have been real.

Adam Cox: Well, everything I said happened in no sequence of events. 

Kyle Risi: I guess so. I guess it was really good. I loved 

Adam Cox: it. I loved it. Yeah, I absolutely loved researching this one. It's just, I think everyone kind of knows that, okay, the dog can't be looking after the money and they know there's a bit more to it. It's just how much extra there is in this story, which is just.

Adam Cox: It's weird. 

Kyle Risi: Brilliant. 

Adam Cox: So we come to the end of another episode of the compendium and assembly of fascinating and intriguing things. If you found today's episode both fascinating and intriguing, then please subscribe and leave us a review.

Adam Cox: And don't just stop there, schedule your episodes to download automatically. Doing this not only ensures you're always in the loop but also boosts our visibility, helping us to serve you even more captivating tales straight to your ears. You can also follow us on Instagram at the Compendium Podcast or visit our home on the web at thecompendiumpodcast.

Adam Cox: com. We release new episodes every Tuesday and so until then, remember, behind the facade of fortune and fantasy lies the very human search for happiness. Connection. Maybe we all need a fluffy four legged friend. 

Kyle Risi: Oh Adam, that was really good. 

Adam Cox: Until next week, bye. 

Kyle Risi: See you later.