Millionaire reveals the one reason that made her give away her $27 million inheritance to strangers

Fortune favors those with a heart big enough to share it. Austrian heiress Marlene Engelhorn embodies this generosity. After inheriting a vast fortune from her late billionaire grandmother, she did something unexpected: she let 50 strangers decide how to give it all away, according to Time Magazine.

Many people, upon receiving a large inheritance, eagerly plan how to spend it. But when Marlene became a multi-millionaire, she felt it was unjust. As the descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the 19th-century founder of German chemical giant BASF SE, she inherited tens of millions of euros. Reflecting on this wealth, she decided to donate €25 million ($27 million)—at least 90% of her fortune—to the people of Austria.

"I have inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without having done anything for it," she told BBC, "And the state doesn't even want taxes on it." Marlene has been a long-time critic of the Austrian policy of not placing taxes on inheritances. According to The New York Times, Austria abolished its inheritance tax in 2008. This cut her deep and she was unable to accept her birth lottery while many people struggled in their work to make ends meet. "Many people struggle to make ends meet with a full-time job and pay taxes on every euro they earn from work. I see this as a failure of politics, and if politics fails, then the citizens have to deal with it themselves," she told BBC.

To give away her fortune, Marlene sent out more than 10,000 emails to randomly selected Austrians. Out of this database, 50 people were chosen as representatives of the overall Austrian population. Their selection process was carried out by research group Foresight based on location, age, race, socioeconomic background and other demographic factors.

The group was eventually developed into an organization called the “Good Council for Redistribution,” or “Guter Rat.” Finally, 77 organizations were selected in which Marlene’s wealth would be distributed. Once this group was formed, the heiress withdrew from the process saying in a statement that “redistribution must be a process that extends beyond oneself.” The group of 50 strangers met for the first time at a hotel in Salzburg in March 2024.

According to The New York Times, the Guter Rat members were paid 1,200 euros (approx $1,300) for each meeting. The costs of their hotels, meals, travel, and child care were covered by the heiress. However, there were certain conditions imposed on the distribution of funds. For instance, the money couldn’t go to groups or people who were “unconstitutional, hostile or inhumane,” and it couldn’t be invested in for-profit institutions. Also, the money couldn’t be redistributed to group members or “related parties.”

In the end, the largest chunk of the heiress’ donation went to the Austrian Society For Nature Conservation, precisely $1.7 million. The second largest sum, approximately $1.6 million, was distributed to an organization called Neunerhaus, which aids homeless people. Other organizations that received Marlene’s money included climate charities, the left-wing think tank Momentum Institute, and religious organizations. Among the 77 organizations that were selected to receive the money, 300,000 went to the Autonomous Austrian Women's Shelters, per EuroNews.

"A large part of my inherited wealth, which elevated me to a position of power simply by virtue of my birth, contradicting every democratic principle, has now been redistributed in accordance with democratic values,” Marlene said in a statement, per BBC News. It is only the eloquent contributions like Marlene’s that strive to maintain the balance of the world in terms of riches.

And throughout her quest, the heiress wasn’t alone. Marlene’s biggest supporters came from her family. “Nobody is openly telling me that I’m doing something wrong or bad,” she told The Guardian. “On the contrary, my mum once said: ‘I’m going to be your biggest fan.’”