An heiress who criticized the lack of wealth and inheritance taxes in Austria has donated most of her fortune, 25 million euros ($27 million), to 77 organizations, including social and climate groups, as well as left-leaning entities.
Marlene Engelhorn, 32, has spent years condemning the birth lottery that allowed her to inherit tens of millions without any obligation to the state and calling for reform.
In January, she announced that a panel selected by a pollster to represent the Austrian public would determine how the sum would be distributed, without any input from her. The list of 77 beneficiaries was revealed on Tuesday.
“A large portion of my inherited wealth, which elevated me to a position of authority simply because of my birth, defying every democratic principle, has now been redistributed in line with democratic values,” Engelhorn said in a statement.
A spokesperson mentioned that €25 million made up the “majority” of her fortune, although she retains an undisclosed amount.
The panel considered “primarily the issue of the impacts of our unequal wealth distribution” and discussions on “democracy and participation, tax justice, and social inequality,” she stated.
Engelhorn is a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founder of the German chemical giant BASF in 1865. Her grandmother Gertraud Engelhorn-Vechiatto married his great-grandson. When Engelhorn-Vechiatto passed away in 2022, Marlene inherited a significant sum.
One of the goals the panel of 50 individuals, aged 16 to 85, aimed to support was “a fairer distribution of wealth, more transparency and reporting on that matter, and better data on very large accumulations of wealth,” according to panel member and retail employee Elisabeth Klein in a statement.
In alignment with this goal, two of the four donations exceeding one million euros went to the Momentum Institute, a left-wing think tank, and Attac Austria, which opposes neoliberal economic policy and “unregulated financial markets.”
Donations ranged from €40,000 – for an initiative to support data-driven reporting on climate change – to €1.6 million for the Austrian Federation for Nature Conservation.
Other supported issues included housing, integration, women’s rights, and combating poverty.
“Now, it is up to political actors to honor what this representative group of the Austrian public has exemplified,” Engelhorn said, urging more debate on these matters.