She gives up an inheritance of over $4,000 million because she doesn’t want to be that rich

You can win the lottery in many different ways in life, and one of them, as in the case of Marlene Engelhorn, is by inheritance. This 29-year-old is a student of German language and literature in Viennabut he is best known for being a descendant of the founders of the BASF company, one of the largest chemical companies in the world and who in 2021 had an income of more than 78,000 million dollars.

However, Engelhorn has been in the media for weeks for refusing 90% of the part due to him by inheritance. The reason? She doesn’t want to be “that rich”. This was stated in several German and Austrian media interviews. The young woman, who stands out for having led movements with a significant class consciousness, supports greater redistribution of wealth and that whoever has more money must pay more taxes.

His grandmother is ranked number 687 in the ranking of the richest people in the world, according to Forbes magazine. A fortune generated by over 150 years of business, the benefits of which seem to annoy the protagonist of this story: “It shouldn’t be my decision what to do with my family’s money, for which I did not work,” he explains in one of the interviews.

social justice

Engelhorn does not shy away from her privileged status as a “rich girl” – she said herself – and is aware that thanks to being born where she was born, she has had structures that not everyone can access. However, she believes that everything has a limit and that no one should hoard huge amounts of money while there is such latent inequality in our society.

She’s a strong believer in not needing that much money. Firstly because she wouldn’t know what to do with it, and secondly because she believes that too much money only brings tensions, problems and misunderstandings. “I couldn’t be happy,” she reiterates.

“It is not a question of will, but of fairness. I have done nothing to receive this inheritance. This is pure luck in the birth lottery and pure coincidence,” she defends.

A mentality that has led her to be a staunch advocate of social justice, which is why she created AG Steuersrechtigkeit, a movement that has mutated throughout Europe under the Taxmenow nomenclature, and which is made up of heirs of large fortunes who renounce them for a higher tax rate for the wealthy. “As someone who has enjoyed the benefits of wealth all my life, I know how distorted our economy is and I can’t keep sitting around and waiting for someone, somewhere to do something,” she explained to the BBC.

Redistribution of wealth, taxes on millionaires and major structural changes in high offices are some of Engelhorn’s demands to achieve greater social equity.

Source: The Vanguard