$200 million kitty: Meet Choupette, the world’s richest cat, whose lifestyle would make Cleopatra envious

But even the lower reported number is staggering. If one uses the $1.5 million figure and compares it with the median net worth of an American family, about $192,900 in the most recent Federal Reserve survey, Choupette’s supposed care arrangement works out to roughly 7.8 times that figure. Round it off, and the headline becomes irresistible: this cat may be worth eight times the typical American family. If one uses the higher $4 million rumour, the number rises to about 20.7 times the median American family net worth.