Heiress to give away P1.5 billion fortune—here's why
An Austro-German heiress is giving away 25 million euros (P1.5 billion) she inherited from her grandmother in a bid to redistribute wealth that she felt she didn’t earn fairly and squarely.
The New York Times reported that Marlene Engelhorn, a 31-year-old resident of Vienna, said it was an attempt to challenge a system that has allowed her to accumulate millions of euros in the first place.
According to BBC, she’s a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founder of pharmaceutical company BASF. She inherited millions when her grandmother Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto died in September 2022.
Forbes estimated that Vechiatto had a net worth of 3.8 billion euros (P233.7 billion). Even before her grandmother’s death, Engelhorn had said she would give away 90% of her inheritance.
"I have inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without having done anything for it," BBC quoted Engelhorn as saying. "And the state doesn't even want taxes on it." (Austria abolished inheritance tax in 2008.)
That’s why Engelhorn launched a project called Guter Rat (or Good Council), sending 10,000 invitations to random people in Austria.
Of this number, 50 citizens—who are meant to reflect the Austrian population through gender, age, education, job—will be chosen “to develop ideas for a better distribution of wealth in Austria—and decide what happens to the money,” according to the project’s website.
There would also be 15 substitute members, just in case.
The participants must be at least 16 years old, and don’t have to be an Austrian citizen or speak German.
The 50 chosen ones would meet over six weekends between March and June, and would receive input from experts. Hotel, meal, and travel costs will be covered, as well as possible conflicts affecting their attendance, like childcare and interpreting.
The money, according to the website’s frequently asked questions page, “cannot go to groups or individuals or flow into activities that are unconstitutional, hostile, or inhumane.”
It also cannot be invested in organizations that operate for profit and redistributed to the group members themselves or “related parties.”
The money will be returned to Engelhorn if the group cannot make a “widely supported” decision.
“A good plan needs many perspectives,” Engelhorn said on the project’s website, “not just from one individual who happens to have inherited. Simply because I wish to improve the state of our society does not mean that I have a good plan.”