A bunch of residents decides the destiny of the heiress’ fortune

A bunch of residents determined tips on how to donate the fortune of a German-Austrian heiress.

Earlier this yr, Marilyn Engelhorn fashioned a bunch of fifty folks to work out tips on how to distribute the thousands and thousands she inherited from her grandmother.

The cash will go to 77 organizations, together with social and local weather teams, in addition to distinguished left-wing teams.

Ms. Engelhorn is a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founding father of the German chemical compounds and prescription drugs main BASF, and is an outspoken advocate of wealth redistribution.

Earlier this yr, she appointed a committee chosen by a pollster to symbolize Austrian society to determine what to do together with her inheritance.

From March to June, the group met for six weekends in Salzburg to work out tips on how to use the cash.

The group has now determined that it ought to go to 77 completely different organisations, charities and analysis facilities – which cope with an entire vary of points, together with environmental safety, schooling, integration, well being and social points, in addition to world poverty, homelessness and reasonably priced housing. Austria.

The smallest donation was €40,000 (£33,400) – to an initiative to assist data-driven reporting on local weather change. The biggest was €1.6 million to the Austrian Federation for Nature Conservation.

A million euros went to the Momentum Institute, a left-wing suppose tank, and the ATAC Austria Basis, which opposes neoliberal financial coverage and “liberalized monetary markets.”

Spiritual charities, together with initiatives of the Catholic support group Caritas, are additionally beneficiaries.

Generally, the cash will likely be distributed over a number of years, the group mentioned.

The youngest participant on the panel, 17-year-old scholar Cyril Jadallah from Vienna, mentioned he “discovered so much” from this expertise.

“A good portion of my inherited wealth, which elevated me to a place of energy as quickly as I used to be born, opposite to each democratic precept, has now been redistributed in accordance with democratic values,” Engelhorn mentioned in a press release.

She inherited thousands and thousands when her grandmother, Traudel Engelhorn-Vecchiato, died in September 2022.

American journal Forbes estimated Traudel Engelhorn Vecchiato’s fortune at $4.2 billion (£3.3 billion, €3.8 billion).

Even earlier than her grandmother died, Ms. Englehorn introduced that she needed handy over a good portion of her inheritance.

The quantity she is holding has not been revealed, however in 2021, Ms Englehorn mentioned she needed to distribute a minimum of 90% of her wealth as a result of she had achieved nothing to earn it and had solely gotten fortunate within the “delivery lottery”.

Previously, Ms. Engelhorn has referred to as for the reinstatement of the inheritance tax in Austria.

Austria abolished inheritance tax in 2008, and is likely one of the few European international locations that doesn’t impose an inheritance tax – or demise responsibility.