"I did nothing to deserve it," the 33-year-old Austrian heiress will distribute 27 million euros to the poor

Marlene Engelhorn, a 32-year-old Austrian heiress, has made an unusual decision: she will distribute 90% of her inheritance, around 27 million euros, among 50 selected citizens.

Engelhorn, a descendant of one of the richest families in Austria and granddaughter of one of BASF's major investors, has called the inherited wealth undeserved, as she did nothing to earn it.

To distribute this amount fairly, it has created an initiative called the “Council for Good Redistribution”, inviting 10,000 randomly selected citizens to participate in a democratic process to select the 50 beneficiaries. Meetings with citizens will take place from March to June, in collaboration with experts and civil society organizations.

Engelhorn is a strong critic of the current tax system in Austria, a country where there is no inheritance tax and just 1% of the population owns 40% of the wealth. She has been calling for years for higher taxes on the wealthy and a fairer distribution of wealth.

“It makes no sense that someone who works full-time barely makes ends meet at the end of the month, while huge fortunes are inherited without any taxes,” says Engelhorn.

Although connected to political circles, she has refused to enter politics with the reasoning: "We don't need more rich kids in Parliament."

Inspired by Epicurean philosophy, Engelhorn expresses the belief that true wealth lies in the absence of greed, not in the amount of money.