Millionaire heiress seeks 50 strangers to help her give away £21.5m she inherited
11 January 2024, 10:44 | Updated: 11 January 2024, 10:50
An Austrian heiress is searching for 50 strangers to help her determine how she should give away her multi-million inheritance.
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Marlene Engelhorn, 31, who lives in Vienna, inherited millions when her grandmother Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto died in September 2022.
Now Ms Engelhorn is planning to set up a citizens group to help decide how she should redistribute €25m (£21.5m) of her inheritance.
She said: “I have inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without having done anything for it.
“And the state doesn't even want taxes on it.”
Austria abolished inheritance tax in 2008, it is one of the few European countries that does not impose the tax.
Ms Engelhorn has previously called for the wealthy to be taxed, however, as she said “wealth taxes are the least we can do to take responsibility”.
The Austro-German is a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founder of German chemical and pharmaceutical company, BASF.
#Marlene_Engelhorn pic.twitter.com/YfDAXj0P2G
— Marlene Engelhorn (@MarleneEnglhorn) November 3, 2022
Even before Ms Engelhorn’s grandmother had died, her granddaughter had declared she wanted to redistribute around 90% of her inheritance.
It is not clear exactly how much money she is planning to give away since actually inheriting the fortune.
Her grandmother’s wealth was estimated by US magazine Forbes at $4.2bn (£3.3bn).
On Wednesday, 10,000 invitations were sent out at random to Austrians over the age of 16 who had been selected to take part in Ms Engelhorn’s redistribution initiative.
Of those 10,000 people, 50 people “from all age groups, federal states, social classes and backgrounds” will be chosen to help “develop solutions in the interest of society".
Fifteen substitutes will also be selected in case of dropouts.
She said in a statement: “If politicians don't do their job and redistribute, then I have to redistribute my wealth myself.
“Many people struggle to make ends meet with a full-time job, and pay taxes on every euro they earn from work. I see this as a failure of politics, and if politics fails, then the citizens have to deal with it themselves.”
Ms Engelhorn said her fortune is only the result luck in the "birth lottery".
Christoph Hofinger, Managing Director of the Foresight Institute which is supporting the initiative, said those selected will be asked to “contribute their ideas in order to jointly develop solutions in the interests of society as a whole”.
They will attend meetings in Salzburg with academics and civil society organisations from March until June. Participants will receive €1,200 for every weekend they attend.
“I am putting my assets at the disposal of these 50 people and placing my trust in them.”
However, if the group cannot decide on a “widely support” solution, the money will be returned to Ms Engelhorn.
After the death of her grandmother in 2022, Ms Engelhorn said in a video statement: “Millionaires should not get to decide whether or not they contribute in a just way to the societies they live in and without which they never would have become millionaires.
“Social justice is in everyone’s best interest. Wealth taxes are the least we can do to take responsibility. Tax us!”
