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Austrian heiress concludes 25-million-euro donation

Austrian heiress concludes 25-million-euro donation

Marlene Engelhorn's wealth distribution benefits 77 organizations focusing on social and environmental issues in Austria.

A team responsible for distributing a large portion of Austrian-German heiress Marlene Engelhorn’s inheritance has revealed the recipients of the funds.

The 32-year-old advocate for increased taxes on the wealthy gained attention in January when she declared she would donate 25 million euros ($26.8 million), which is most of her inherited wealth.

She appointed a team to form a citizens council consisting of 50 Austrians to propose ways to dispense her fortune.

On Tuesday, it was announced that 77 organizations that address poverty, environmental protection, education, integration, health, and affordable housing in Austria will receive financial support.

Over several years, individual groups will get amounts ranging from 40,000 euros ($43,000) to 1.6 million euros ($1.7 million).

The heiress, a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn who founded the German chemical and pharmaceutical company BASF, inherited millions in 2002 upon her grandmother’s death.

Prior to her grandmother’s passing, Engelhorn had expressed a desire to allocate about 90 percent of her inheritance to various causes.

“If politicians fail to redistribute wealth, I must do it myself,” Engelhorn stated in January.

“Many people struggle to sustain themselves with a full-time job and pay taxes on every euro they earn. This is political failure, and if politics fails, citizens must take action themselves,” she continued.

Engelhorn did not participate in Tuesday’s press conference, having stepped back from the process after the council was initiated.

List of organizations
A person holds a paper showing the allocation of the funds of Engelhorn’s fortune, which will benefit groups working to improve environmental, educational, health, and housing conditions [Lisa Leutner/Reuters]

From March to June, 50 paid Austrians met over six weekends in Salzburg to devise solutions “for the good of society.”

Four council members shared their experiences on Tuesday, praising the “democratic project” and calling it an “exciting challenge” to find solutions to critical issues “equally” and based on consensus.

The youngest member, 17-year-old student Kyrillos Gadalla, mentioned he “learned a lot” from discussions with various council members, the oldest being 85.

Oxfam reported in January that the world’s billionaires are $3.3 trillion wealthier than in 2020, while almost five billion people worldwide have become poorer, highlighting “obscene levels of inequality.”

Speaking at the 56th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk referred to Oxfam’s finding that the wealth of the world’s five richest billionaires has more than doubled since 2020, while 60 percent of the global population has become poorer.

Turk noted that “4.8 billion people are poorer than in 2019,” and highlighted a $100 trillion wealth disparity between men and women worldwide.

Source: ALJAZEERA
Source: ALJAZEERA

ALJAZEERA MEDIA NETWORK

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