“I don’t want to be that rich, I couldn’t be happy,” she said at the time. Marlene Engelhorn. And now, following that phrase like a mantra, the Austrian heiress has decided to gather 50 people to decide together what to do with the 25 million euros of the inherited money.
The call is explained on the project website, Guter Rat für Rückverteilung (Good advice for redistribution). The half hundred chosen will come from a list of 10,000 people already selected and notified via email.
That of the Austrian heiress is a political act. Marlene wants to “improve” the state of her “society” by challenging the system that has allowed her to accumulate millions of euros in 31 years of life.
His goal is for his country’s fiscal policies to address structural economic inequality and redistribute inherited wealth.
Austria, a European country with the fifth highest density of millionaires in the European Union, abolished inheritance tax in 2008. Since the current tax laws do not match its ideals, Marlene has devised her own redistribution mechanism.
“If the government fails we have to fix things ourselves. In Austria, wealth is distributed unequally, as is power. 1% of the population owns half of the total net wealth. 99% of people have to share the other half. We are talking about almost four million houses”, we read in the first text that appears on the project website.
Engelhorn is Austrian and a descendant of one of the richest families in Europe.The details of the selection
The process of selecting the 50 people on the board involves several stages.
First, the system used requested a random sample of 10,000 addresses from the central resident register in the summer of 2023 (in Austria).
On January 9, 2024, invitations were sent to those 10,000 people so that, if they wanted to participate, they could send their personal data.
The only thing missing today is for the system to complete the selection of 50 people after analyzing the answers that best reflect the composition of the Austrian population (by gender, origin, income, etc.)
What will the redistribution be like?
The group will meet this year (March to June) in Salzburg over six weekends to discuss how best to spend Engelhorn’s millions. “A good plan needs many perspectives”, says Marlene.
Experts on the distribution of wealth and methods of financing non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will participate in the meetings.
The board members, all anonymous (unless they wish to make themselves known), do not necessarily have to be Austrian or speak German. Yes, they must be over 16 years old.
His advice is called “Guter Rat”.They will charge 1,200 euros for each weekend. They will have accommodation, meals, travel expenses and solutions for all kinds of problems that make it difficult for them to attend meetings.
What can the funds be spent on?
According to the project website, The millions cannot be allocated anywhere. For example, money cannot go to “unconstitutional, hostile or inhumane” groups or people or to for-profit institutions.
It is important to clarify that the money cannot be given to acquaintances or relatives of Guter Rat members.
If there is no agreement, the money will be returned to Engelhorn, who will then have relinquished all authority over the project.
On the site, the project organizing team emphasizes that redistribution means, among other things, “improving everyone’s lives”, “alleviating the symptoms of social ills and addressing their causes” and “listening to those most affected”.
Because Engelhorn is a billionaire
Engelhorn will distribute 25 million euros of an inheritance of which the total amount is not known (his spokesman said this is “a large majority”).
His family heritage originated with Friedrich Engelhornfounder in 1865 of BASFone of the “largest chemical companies in the world,” explains the New York Times.
Additionally, the heiress’s family owned a pharmaceutical company and medical diagnostic equipment until 1997, when they were sold for $11 billion.
Engelhorn gives a TED talk. Photo: YouTubeTraudl Engelhorn-VecchiattoMarlene’s grandmother wanted her granddaughter to inherit the money she had earned over the years (4.2 billion euros), but she gave up 90% of the sum, the Huffington Post reported at the time.
who had foreseen that his granddaughter would inherit the money earned in all the years of operation of the company. Marlene, however, gave up 90% of the amount, or 4.2 billion #euros, reports the Huffington Post.
Before her death in 2022, Engelhorn-Vechiatto was ranked 687th among the richest people in the world (according to Forbes).
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.