For a lot of us, the idea of spending eighty million dollars could almost be a daunting task. From big houses to expensive cars to fancy clothes, you could keep spending and still have a hard time getting rid of it all. And if humans have a problem, how much harder will it be for a dog?
Carlotta Liebenstein, a canine-loving Countess from Germany, left her beloved dog Gunther IV that huge eight-figure sum when she passed away in 1992. How come we don’t ever hear about Gunther from the tabloids? Well, German Shepherds have a lifespan of nine to thirteen years, but somehow he’s still around. Unless, of course, he’s just passing the money down to identical sons and daughters.
Marie Curie
Marie Curie was born in Russian-occupied Poland in 1867, but moved to Paris at the age of twenty-four to study science. She was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity, and won a Nobel prize in two different fields – physics and chemistry, the first person to do so.
When she died, the only thing in her estate worth much was a gram of pure radium, which she then gifted to the University of Paris, on the condition that her daughter Irene Curie be allowed to use the gram for any of her scientific research. Element 96, Curium, was named in honor of Marie and her husband, Pierre.
Sandra West
Sandra West was an oil heiress and socialite, and she loved the luxuries of life. Even when she died, she wanted to be buried in the best. The Californian not only asked to be buried in her favorite lace nightgown, but she also requested her final resting place to be her beloved powder-blue Ferrari. “[W]ith the seat slanted comfortably.”
Her family obliged her request (no doubt they got plenty from the will), and they even poured cement over the vehicle. This to ensure that thieves wouldn't dig it up and get their hands on the classic car of cool.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Though he wrote about a life of luxury when he wrote his famous novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald wasn't able to enjoy the finer things in life during his later years. He hardly had a cent to his name when he died in 1940.
It was for this reason that he adjusted his will to change his funeral arrangements from “in keeping with my station in life” to “the cheapest.” How could one of America's most famous writers have fallen on such hard times? Well, he only made about eight thousand dollars on The Great Gatsby. He was so short of money that he sometimes worked as a roof repairer.
Maurice Laboz
New York real estate mogul loved his daughters, and so he left each of them about twenty million dollars in his will...but that money came with some strings. They had to live up to his standards, with tasks including getting a degree from a recognized university and getting married to a man who had signed all rights to the inheritance away.
In short, they had to marry for love. If the daughters chose to work, they would receive triple what their tax statements show at the end of the year from the trust, and if they chose to spend their time as mothers, they would receive three percent of the trust each year, provided the children were born in wedlock.