Young heiress distributes millions to organizations that help improve Austrian society

BERLIN -- A young German-Austrian heiress has realized her plan to redistribute almost all of her assets to organizations that are devoted to protecting the climate, improving education and health care, or supporting gender equality among other issues.

Marlene Engelhorn, 31, had asked a group representing 50 diverse citizens in Austria earlier this year to decide how her 25 million euros ($26.8 million) worth of wealth should be distributed.

The millionaire argued that assets are unequally distributed in the country and that by sharing her wealth with others she is trying to help make up for the unfair distribution of wealth in Austrian society.

“A large part of my inherited wealth, which through my birth has elevated me to a position of power that contradicts every democratic principle, has now been redistributed in accordance with democratic values,” she said in a written statement Tuesday, Austria Press Agency reported.

“So how does it feel to finally be normal and democratic? Quite fantastic, to be honest,” Engelhorn told broadcasters RTL and NTV on Wednesday. “It feels wonderful to share," she said.

The group of 50, called Guter Rat — which means “good advice” in German — had announced Tuesday who they would distribute the money to.

Some 77 organizations in Austria — renowned and large, as well as small and relatively unknown ones — will receive money from Engelhorn, which include aid groups such as Caritas, Diakonie and Volkshilfe, women’s shelters, and newspapers run by homeless people, fire departments, and pro-democracy groups, the agency reported.

The millions will not be distributed in one go, but over several years, the Guter Rat group said, during a press conference announcing their choices.

On its website, the group said that “redistribution means recognizing that wealth is always created by society — never by itself. Therefore, some of it should be redistributed to society in order to improve the lives of all.”

The group also said that redistribution means “listening to those who are most affected by social and environmental problems. They have a better view of these problems ... and therefore of possible solutions.”

During the distribution process, the focus was on questions such as the seriousness of the organizations and how the money could be used in a manner that it has a long-term impact, they said.

Although Engelhorn is giving away almost all of her assets, she will keep a “transition budget” to help her take a move into working life, Austrian broadcaster ORF reported.

Engelhorn inherited her fortunes from her grandmother. She's part of a wealthy industrialist family that sold the German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Mannheim to the Swiss group Roche in the 1990s.