Citizens group decides heir's fate – BBC News

A group of citizens decided how to pass the fate of an Austro-German heir.

Earlier this year, Marilyn Engelhorn formed a team of 50 people to figure out how to distribute the millions she inherited from her grandmother.

The money will go to 77 organizations, including social and climate groups as well as prominent left-wing figures

A descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of major German chemical and pharmaceutical company BASF, Ms. Engelhorn is an outspoken advocate for wealth redistribution.

Earlier this year, he appointed a panel chosen by a pollster to be representative of Austrian society to decide what should be done with his legacy.

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

The group has now decided that it should approach 77 different organisations, charities and think tanks – which deal with issues including environmental protection, education, integration, health and social issues, as well as poverty, homelessness and affordable housing. Austria.

The smallest grant was €40,000 (£33,400) – to an initiative to support data-based reporting on climate change. The largest was €1.6m for the Austrian Nature Conservation Federation.

One million euros went to the Momentum Institute, a left-wing think-tank and Attack Austria, which opposes neoliberal economic policies and “regulated financial markets”.

Religious charities are also recipients, including projects by the Catholic aid agency Caritas.

The group said in most cases the money would be paid over several years.

The panel's youngest participant, 17-year-old student Kyrillos Gadalla from Vienna, said he “learned a lot” from the experience.

In a statement, Ms Engelhorn said: “A large portion of my inherited wealth, which elevated me to a position of power simply because of my birth, has now been redistributed according to democratic values, contrary to every democratic principle.”

He inherited millions when his grandmother, Tradol Engelhorn-Vecchiatto, died in September 2022.

Trudle Engelhorn-Vecchiatto's wealth was estimated by the US magazine Forbes at $4.2 billion (£3.3bn; €3.8bn).

Even before her grandmother died, Ms. Engelhorn announced that she wanted to pass on much of her inheritance.

The amount she retains is undisclosed, but in 2021, Ms Engelhorn said she wanted to share at least 90% of her wealth because she did nothing to earn it and just got lucky in a “birth lottery”.

In the past, Ms Engelhorn has called for reinstating the inheritance tax in Austria.

Austria abolished inheritance tax in 2008, one of a handful of European countries that do not impose an inheritance tax – or a death tax.