“Tell me how I should donate 25 million euros”. Marlene Engelhorn is an Austro-German heiress. She is 31 years old, she lives in Vienna. She has not built her wealth on her own. She is a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of the chemical and pharmaceutical company BASF. She the young one inherited her in September 2022, when her grandmother died. Now, she wants to redistribute part of the wealth and wants 50 Austrian citizens to tell her who or what to allocate the sum to, potentially all 25 million. “I inherited a fortune without having done anything. The state doesn't even want to tax it,” she says.
The girl's grandmother was Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto, to whom Forbes had attributed a fortune of 3.8 billion euros. Before her grandmother's death, young Marlene had made clear her intention to donate 90% of her inheritance. The project has started and the girl has already received the 'nominations' of 10,000 citizens. 50 people will be selected, with 15 potential replacements, to create the 'council' that will decide how to use the money.
“If politicians don't do their job and redistribute, then I'll have to do it myself. Many people struggle to make ends meet despite having a job, they pay taxes on every single euro they earn. This is a failure of politics: if politics fails, citizens must fend for themselves”, says the heiress. The young woman expects the collaboration of the 'council of 50 wise men': people of all ages and social classes will have to propose ideas in a series of meetings in Salzburg, between March and June, with the involvement of academics and organizations involved in social issues.
“I – says the heiress – have no right of veto: I put my resources at the disposal of these 50 people and I have faith in them”. If decisions with broad support and consensus do not arrive, the money will remain with Marlene. It is not clear whether the project actually concerns 90% of the inheritance received: in this case, over 22 out of 25 million euros would be donated.
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