RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne with a story of rags to riches, where the underdog is an alley cat. Tommaso began life as a stray in the streets of Rome until he was rescued by a wealthy widow. The 94-year-old had no children, according to ABC News. So when she died last month, she left her entire fortune to the cat - more than $13 million. That makes Tommaso the world's third richest animal heir, behind a German shepherd and a chimpanzee. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.