Austrian heiress is looking for 50 strangers, who can advise her on how and where to make the huge giveaway of her $27 million fortune.
Marlene Engelhorn, 31, from Austria, is now heir to a fortune of $27.1 million. She inherited the vast sum from her grandmother, Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto, who passed away at 95 years old in September 2022.
Engelhorn is a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founder of a chemical company called BASF. Engelhorn’s grandmother had an estimated net worth of $4.2 billion when she was alive, as reported by the New York Post.
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She has set up an initiative called “Good Council for Redistribution” as the selfless Austrian heiress, has no need for all the money, and plans to give it away.
Although it is unclear as of now, the exact amount Engelhorn is looking forward to donating for the huge giveaway. As per her earlier statement, she intends to give away 90% of her fortune.
Engelhorn believes she has not worked for the vast sum of money that she’s inherited. Also, the state is not taxing her for this, so she’s being generous and redistributing her wealth as politicians aren’t ready to do it.
To help her out, in this process, she has sent out 10,000 invitations to random people in Austria above the age of 16 years.
She wants to select 50 people, to represent “all age groups, federal states, social classes, and backgrounds.”
These people will then assist her by contributing “ideas to develop solutions” on how to distribute this money for the benefit of society in the best possible way.
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Engelhorn thinks it is a “service to democracy” as she will place her trust in the hands of the group, with no special veto power for herself.
The group will have discussions in Salzburg along with academicians and various organizations from March to June this year.
The group members will be paid well, approximately $1,300 for each weekend of discussions, along their commutation costs will also be covered. There will also be childcare and translators at the venue.
