A German heiress has said she is ‘annoyed’ by her multibillion-dollar inheritance and wants it to be taxed at 90%.
Marlene Engelhorn inherited a fortune from her grandmother Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto, who died in September at the age of 94. Engelhorn-Vechiatto was a member of the German family that founded BASF, the world’s largest chemical producer, in 1865. At the time of her death, her fortune was valued at $4.2 billion.
“The dream scenario is I get taxed,” the 30-year-old who inherited the money told the New York Times.
Engelhorn’s words echo her sentiments from last year’s interview with Vice News, when she said “nobody should have that much tax-free money and power.”
Marlene Engelhorn, who now lives in Austria, is the founder of Tax Me Now, an advocacy group that wants to redistribute wealth through higher taxes. She specifically advocates for higher taxes on inherited wealth, arguing that heirs have done no work to deserve the fortunes they receive tax-free as inheritance.
“I am the product of an unequal society,” Engelhorn said in a speech at a Millionaires for Humanity event in August. “Because otherwise, I couldn’t be born into multimillions. Just born. Nothing else.”
“The wealth of the so-called top 1% is not just a large number, it directly translates to power over politics, economics, media and society,” she added. “This power is out of proportion: in a democratic society, solidarity concerns us all. Wealth distribution strikes at the heart of democracy.”
Austria completely abolished inheritance tax in 2008. Engelhorn wants to bring about a structural change in the way the rich and the ultra-rich are taxed.
“I want to share my wealth in a transparent and democratic process. Millionaires should not get to decide whether or not they contribute in a just way to the societies they live in,” she said in a video posted on the Facebook page of Millionaires for Humanity in May 2021.
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