Marlene Engelhorn, the Austrian multi-millionaire who wants her fortune taxed (2024)

As luck would have it, Marlene Engelhorn's book Geld ("money" in German) was published a few days after the death of her 95-year-old grandmother Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto, on September 22, turning the 30-year-old into a multi-millionaire.

"I still don't know exactly how much money it is because we haven't read the will yet, but probably tens of millions of euros," said the Austro-German great-great-great-granddaughter of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founder of the German chemical and pharmaceutical company BASF, who died in 1902 leaving his descendants a fortune that is still considerable today.

Ms. Engelhorn-Vechiatto became rich by marrying one of Mr. Engelhorn's great-grandsons. At the time of her death, her fortune was estimated by the American magazine Forbes at $4.2 billion, thanks in particular to the sale of another family business, Boehringer Mannheim, to the Swiss healthcare company Roche in 1997.

To the young Ms. Engelhorn, this inheritance seems "unfair," even if she will only receive a fraction of it. "I never worked for it," said the German literature student, interviewed at one of Vienna's most famous cafés, where she barely had time to sip a lemonade before leaving. The young woman is in great demand: various debates and German-language book fairs are competing to have her talk about her book, which vehemently condemns the "undemocratic" side of "big money."

"It is unfair that a human being can be ultra-rich, not pay taxes and use their wealth to influence political debate on the matter"

In early 2021, when she discovered that she was going to "inherit directly from [her] grandmother," she spoke out in the Austrian press to demand that the state take "at least 90%" from her. Such a shocking request immediately made Ms. Engelhorn the Austrian counterpart of those American billionaires who are currently demanding that the government tax them more.

Even though taxes in Europe are higher, she pointed out that there has been no inheritance tax in Austria since 2008. And she has revived discussions in neighboring Germany about the wealth tax, of which the heiress is a strong advocate. "It is not fair that a person can be ultra-rich, not pay taxes and use their wealth to influence political debate on the matter. That's it," said Ms. Engelhorn, who does not believe in the myth of the self-made man.

She readily fired her firm political convictions against "lobbyists" and the "wealthy powerful ones" to demand "radical transparency" from politicians. However, she did not say a word about her family's reaction to her anti-rich positions. "It's none of your business," she said, suggesting that discretion is the price to pay to preserve peace at home.

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