To achieve great success, you often have to think outside the box. And that's something that these controversial millionaires and billionaires have had no trouble in applying, both to business and to their eccentric personal lives. From lavish pet weddings to a real-life Jurassic Park or even getting permanently banned from Twitter, click or scroll through the strangest, most controversial super-rich people from modern history.

Born into an aristocratic family with a proud and noted history, John Mytton inherited the family fortune at the age of two following the death of his father. Alongside an estate worth millions, he was handed an annual stipend of around $950,000 (£750k) in today's money. This gave him total freedom to indulge his every whim – and that's exactly what he did.

After riding a bear to a dinner party, letting his favourite horse called Baronet wander freely around his home and setting fire to his clothing to rid himself of hiccups, it's not surprising that Mytton earned the nickname 'Mad Jack'. He also had a stint as an MP after bribing voters with £10 apiece (a very large sum back then). However, he quickly got bored and only attended parliament once, for a total of 30 minutes.

Manufacturing tycoon Henry Ford made his fortune by bringing affordable cars to the masses. At the peak of his career, he had amassed a net worth of around $190 billion (£150bn). He introduced many shrewd business moves, including better-developed assembly lines, franchise models and fair workers' wages, but he certainly wasn't without his own eccentricities too.

Ford was a collector on an almost obsessive scale. As well as filling his own museum with technological tools from the past, he also bought one hundred historical buildings in order to create Greenfield Village, an outdoor museum in Michigan that shows how Americans lived and worked throughout history.

Born in 1900, Muhammad Mahabat Khan III was the last royal ruler of the state of Junagadh, India. Following the death of his father and three older brothers, he became the heir apparent aged just 11. The huge wealth he inherited meant he was able to pursue his passion for conservation, and his efforts prevented India's lion population from becoming extinct.

As well being a champion for wildlife, Mahabat Khan was also a serious dog lover. He had an extravagant lifestyle, and this was extended to his canine companions – all 800 of them. Each dog had its own room, telephone and servant, as well as lavish birthday parties in their honour. Two of his favourites even had a wedding ceremony, with over $1.5 million (£1.2m) in today's money being spent on the big day.

There's no doubt that Howard Hughes was one of the most successful businessmen of his time, if not ever. He made his money as a film producer during the 1920s and 30s, producing films such as Scarface (1932), and then as a business magnate following the creation of his own aircraft company. He reached an estimated net worth of $2 billion (£986m) by the time he died in 1976, which would be over $9 billion (£7.1bn) today.

While he enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle and was something of a playboy in his younger days, as he got older Hughes became reclusive and the symptoms of his obsessive compulsive disorder became more extreme. This included eating the exact same meal night after night, spending millions living out of hotels, and refusing to wear clothes due to his fear of germs. He also spent a total of four months holed up in a dark screening room, surviving on milk and chocolate bars and insisting his staff avoid making eye contact with him.

The billionaire property tycoon had amassed a fortune of $2.5 billion (£1.25bn) by the time she died in 2007. She was dubbed the 'Queen of Mean' due to her malicious treatment of employees, asking one waiter to beg for his job after he spilled tea onto a saucer, and refusing to pay multiple contractors for the work they'd carried out for her.

After her death of congenital heart failure aged 87, the details of Helmsley's will soon became infamous. Leaving many members of her family out, including two of her grandchildren, she instead chose to give the majority of her estate to dogs. She left the bulk to her charitable trust with directions for the money to be used to help canines in need, and also set aside $12 million (£9.4m) for her Maltese dog Trouble.

Born into a Spanish aristocratic family, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart inherited a $3.8 billion (£3bn) fortune. She was also the most titled person in the world, holding more than 50 hereditary titles, including 18th Duchess of Alba.

Famed for her love of plastic surgery and age-defying antics, the Duchess was a hit with celebs like Elizabeth Taylor and Audrey Hepburn. In 2011, aged 85, she caused a scandal by marrying a man 25 years younger. There was an outcry from the public, her family and even the King of Spain, fearing the man was a gold digger. The Duchess proved to have a sensible streak though. After her death in 2014 her will divided her billions between her children, and for her toyboy husband? Zero.

As the 7th Marquess of Bath, Alexander Thynn inherited a total fortune of over $189 million (£150m). He lived at the family home in Wiltshire, England, which also happens to be a safari park and leading tourist attraction. As with many Brits born into money, the Marquess of Bath was educated at Eton College and then Oxford University. But that's where he left tradition behind...

Lord Bath was a true British eccentric, wearing bright clashing colours and painting scenes from the Kama Sutra on the walls of his stately home. He has also famously rejected the idea of monogamy, instead spitting his attention between a number of 'wifelets' (around 70 at one point) some of whom live in cottages on his estate. Lord Bath passed away in April 2020.

Hong Kong property developer Cecil Chao has amassed billions thanks to his shrewd business know-how. However, it was for an entirely different reason that the 84-year-old made headlines around the world nine years ago.

Back in 2012 Chao announced an offer of $65 million (£51m) to any man who could win the heart of his daughter despite the fact that she is gay and married to her long-term partner. He increased the figure to $180 million (£142m) two years later, but has thankfully now accepted her sexuality. The billionaire, who is a famed playboy himself, said in 2016: "It's her life. She decides about her private life."

Socialite Jocelyn Wildenstein already enjoyed a lavish lifestyle through her marriage to Alec Wildenstein, the heir to an art fortune worth billions. However, it was when the couple divorced in 1999 that she became a billionaire herself thanks to one of the largest settlements in history. She walked away with $2.5 billion (£1.6bn) and $100 million (£62m) a year for the following 13 years.

Throughout her marriage, Wildenstein had undergone multiple plastic surgeries to make herself look cat-like, which earned her the name 'Catwoman'. As part of her divorce settlement agreement, the judge ruled that she was legally forbidden from using any of her new wealth for more surgeries.

British businessman Graham Pendrill made millions as an antique dealer. He was living a very comfortable life in Bristol, England in his 12-bedroom house alongside his younger girlfriend, before he decided to make a very drastic change in 2005.

After visiting Kenya for a month, Pendrill became so enthralled by the lives of the Masai tribespeople that he decided he wanted to join them. Then aged 57, he sold his home and belongings, broke up with his girlfriend and said goodbye to his old life. After a ceremony in which he had to drink bull's blood and urine, Pendrill got his wish and was welcomed as an elder into a tribe.

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As the 20th richest person in Australia according to Forbes, Clive Palmer has a net worth of $2.8 billion (£2bn). He earned big as a real estate agent during the Gold Coast property boom in the 1980s, and went on to found three successful mining companies. Often branded Australia's Donald Trump, he even made the move into politics in recent years.

In 2013 Palmer opened a park filled with robotic dinosaurs to the public. When low visitor numbers forced the resort – called Palmersaurus – to close two years later, he was said to be considering bringing real dinosaurs back to life. Despite being in talks with the scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep, the project seems to have lost all momentum. Let's hope his next venture – a functioning replica of the Titanic aka 'Titanic II' due to set sail in 2022 – is more successful. 

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Now Georgia's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili was born into poverty and worked as a factory cleaner in his younger days. After making shrewd investments in Russian metals and banking, he is now worth a staggering $4.8 billion (£3.5bn), and has even had a short stint as Georgia's prime minister.

Ivanishvili's $38 million (£30m) home is like something out of a film set. In fact, his employees actually greet visitors with "Welcome to the James Bond house". The home, designed by artist duo Gilbert & George, includes a helipad, a glass tower with a circular swimming pool inside, and a huge rotating steel ball housing a café. A lover of exotic animals, the billionaire also has his own zoo, complete with penguins, zebras, and sharks at his grand estate by the coast. 

Born into a wealthy family, Berggruen used his $250,000 (£197k) trust fund to invest in property and hedge funds, before setting up his own private investment company in 1984. Now worth $1.7 billion (£1.2bn) Berggruen invests in everything from clean energy to Indian car rental companies.

Berggruen became known as the 'homeless billionaire' after selling his home in 2000 and living out of hotels for years. He also binned most of his belongings, carrying everything he owned in a large paper bag. A long-term bachelor, the billionaire decided to settle down in 2016 following the birth of his two children through egg donors and surrogates.

 

Michael J. Lindell is an American entrepreneur, who has been courting controversy in the last few months due to his support for Donald Trump. The pillow magnate, who started MyPillow in 2004 after struggling with insomnia, has previously suffered with drug addiction and almost lost his fledgling business because of it too. His wife left him and he lost his house, but he managed to quit drugs before MyPillow went under. In fact, after Lindell dedicated himself to the the pillow manufacturer, expanding its range of products to beds, linen and even pet beds, the Minnesota-based business started to thrive, and even racked up $280 million (£217m) in revenue in 2017.

However, Lindell's support of Donald Trump has now started to affect the business. Even though Trump lost the 2020 election, Lindell questioned the result and Dominion Voting Systems threatened to sue the entrepreneur over his claims the election was rigged. Lindell maintained his support of Trump despite the Capitol siege on 6 January, going as far to describe the event as "very peaceful". Lindell's comments and spreading of "misinformation" on Twitter have since led him to be permanently banned from the social media platform, and when he tried to keep tweeting from the MyPillow business account Twitter then took that account down too. His political views have even led retailers including Bed, Bath & Beyond, Kohl's and JC Penney to stop selling his MyPillow products.

 

Now the richest person in the world, with a current net worth of $190 billion (£138.9bn) according to Bloomberg, South Africa-born Elon Musk is as much known for his controversies as his success. From his personal life, where he married and divorced British actress Talulah Riley twice and has now named his seventh child (his first with Canadian singer Grimes (pictured)) the highly unusual X Æ A-12, to his professional achievements which include putting chips in pigs' brains, Musk is never far from the headlines.

Many of Musk's controversies play out on Twitter, and in 2018 Tesla was fined $20 million (£16.5m) and Musk lost his role as Tesla chairperson after the US Securities and Exchange Commission sued Musk for posting tweets claiming that he could buy out stockholders at $420 (£350) a share, despite not having secured the funding. On 6 March 2020 his tweets caused controversy again when he tweeted "the coronavirus panic is dumb" just five days before the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic. He later offered to buy ventilators for hospitals in New York and other COVID hotspots. However, this positive contribution was offset by his tweet on 11 May 2020 when Musk announced that he would be reopening his Tesla factory in Fremont, California in defiance of local public health orders. Musk's Twitter account drew more attention last summer when the billionaire tweeted "I am selling almost all physical possessions. Will own no house." This was followed by his comment that "My gf @Grimezsz is mad at me" and Musk has since sold one of his seven properties for a reported $29 million (£22.8m).

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