Updated: June 2024
Inheritance: everyone dreams of inheriting oodles of money from a rich aunt or uncle. But what happens when you actually get the money? It might not be everything you wish for.
Marlene Engelhorn is exactly in that position: she inherited a whopping $36.6 million dollar (in Canadian dollars) from her rich grandmother. She should be set for life, right?
Instead, the wealthy heiress is quite unhappy with the princely sum.
Inheriting the money was bittersweet for Engelhorn; it’s enough to live on for the rest of her life, but it left the heiress with a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. Engelhorn felt conflicted: “I am only wealthy because I was born in a rich family. And I think in a democratic society of the 21st century, birth should not be the one thing that determines whether or not you’re gonna get to lead a very good life,” Engelhorn was reported as saying.
She’s not alone: many wealthy Austrians have made their fortunes in finance, real estate, manufacturing, and the (burgeoning) tech field. The rich often reside in cities like Vienna and Salzburg. Austria, a country known for its profound musical legacy —birthplace of classical music legends like Mozart, Haydn, and Strauss —is a cultural hub for many visitors.
Engelhorn began a campaign for higher taxes on the wealthy in Austria, including an inheritance tax. Her pleas to the Austrian government fell on deaf ears; the tax inheritance laws she hoped for didn’t come to fruition. She has therefore decided to spearhead a grassroots campaign to levy heavier taxes on the wealthy in Austria.
Partnering with the Foresight Institute in Austria, Engelhorn is looking to have a committee of Austrian residents tackle economic inequality by redistributing the €25 million ($36.6 million Cdn) she is generously giving the committee to play with.
How does this work?
Engelhorn and the Foresight Institute invited 10,000 Austrian residents aged 16 or older. The number will be whittled down to a lucky 50 residents, who will be randomly selected to form the “Good Council.” These members will decide (over a period of six weekends) as to how the money will be spent.
Engelhorn also continues to work with charitable groups, like Millionaires for Humanity and Tax Me Now.
She continues to lament that “the Austrian system shouldn’t allow her to accumulate so much wealth.” But without any inheritance taxes in sight, Engelhorn is left to her own devices to distribute her own wealth.
Until that changes, Engelhorn plans to give away most of her inheritance.
You can read more here.