An Heiress From Austria Is Asking 50 Strangers To Help Her Give Away 90% Of Her $27.25 Million Inheritance
Can you imagine receiving a tremendous inheritance from a deceased relative and then opting to give a significant amount of it away?
An heiress in Austria is planning to give away around 90% of her $27.25 million inheritance, and she’s requesting the help of 50 Austrians to help her allocate the funds.
Marlene Engelhorn is a 31-year-old Austrian activist and journalist who recently acquired a massive amount of money. She is the granddaughter of Friedrich Engelhorn, who founded the German chemical and pharmaceutical company BASF.
When Marlene’s grandmother, Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto, passed away in 2022, Marlene was given a $27 million inheritance.
However, before her grandmother passed, Marlene had made it clear to the world that she wanted to give away a large portion of it.
One of Marlene’s motivations for giving away a large sum is that her inheritance wouldn’t be taxed, as Austria abolished inheritance tax in 2008.
She believes it is unfair that she could be handed down such a large amount of money that she did not work for and not be taxed.
Although Marlene has not released the exact amount of her inheritance she plans on giving away, she has mentioned she’d be willing to part with 90% in the past.
Because Marlene knew she wanted to give away much of her inheritance but wasn’t sure who or what organizations to give it to, she decided to enlist the help of fellow Austrians.
Harry HU – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
In early January, an invitation was sent to 10,000 Austrian citizens over the age of 16, asking if they’d like to participate in Marlene’s initiative, Good Council for Redistribution.
Out of those 10,000 Austrians who received letters, only 50 interested citizens from all age groups and demographics will be chosen to help Marlene distribute her inheritance.
They will be able to share their thoughts on where the money should go based on their beliefs and societal concerns.
Alongside academics and activists, the 50 participants will attend in-person meetings on weekends in Salzburg, where Marlene will cover travel and childcare costs.
Each participant will also receive around $1,300 for every meeting they attend from March to June of this year.
According to interviews given by Marlene, she doesn’t plan on intervening and leaves the fate of her inheritance to those 50 people.
If a situation arises where the group cannot agree on where to put the money, it will go back to Marlene.
What causes do you hope Marlene’s money will go towards?
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
More About:News