Austrian heiress Marlene Engelhorn to involve citizens in €25m giveaway

Marlene Engelhorn, an Austro-German heiress, has announced her plans to establish a citizens group to determine the redistribution of €25m from her inheritance. This initiative, named the Good Council for Redistribution, aims to address the unfairness of her inherited fortune and the absence of inheritance tax in Austria. Marlene Engelhorn is the descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of BASF, and inherits millions following her grandmother’s death. The group will consist of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens who will contribute their ideas and develop solutions through meetings held from March to June. Participants will be compensated, and travel costs will be covered. The discussions will be seen as a “service to democracy” and will only result in the redistribution of funds if a widely supported decision is reached. If not, the money will return to Ms. Engelhorn, although the proportion being given away remains unknown. As Austria’s abolition of inheritance tax continues to be a contentious issue, the opposition Social Democrats are pushing for its reinstatement. However, the conservative People’s Party opposes the idea, claiming that new taxes burden the population.