“My kids want to be vaccinated,” “Tim Walter wants to make HSV a Bundesliga club again,” “Taiwan and Vietnam tighten corona measures” – it's easy to see headlines from another world, more precisely May 25, 2021 The world has changed dramatically since then, for one thing. Except: “The million-dollar heiress who wants to donate almost everything to make the world beautiful” still wants to donate almost everything so that the world is more fair.
Social justice activists from Vice Germany spoke about it once in May and had to shut down the media a long time ago. But the news situation surrounding the million-dollar heir appears, at first glance, remarkably resistant to change.
“Heiress Marlene Engelhorn Gives 25 Million”, “Marlene Engelhorn – Who Is the Woman Who Gives Millions?” Google News now reveals headlines that are hours or days old as brand new. Only upon closer inspection does the reason for the current wave of reporting become clear: a group must now decide whether to use tradition.
Well, who is that girl? Engelhorn is 31 years old, a German-Austrian activist and journalist and well-versed in attention economics. What she is: “Born lottery winner” (Engelhorn), great-great-granddaughter of BASF founder Friedrich Engelhorn, who died in 1902 and therefore had 25 million euros, which her grandmother left her in 2022. . It's not as trivial as it sounds: “If you're used to seeing high six figures in your account, that's a shock,” Engelhorn said. Glass.
What makes her so interesting to the media is the fact that she is willing to pay this 25 million euros. Well, most of it anyway. You never know what's going to happen, and you never know what that small cushion of up to 2.5 million euros will be – even if you plan to finance your life with a real job after that.
Attention to the “Taxmenow” initiative
It's been Groundhog Day in the media for almost three years now, and Marlene Engelhorn always wants to give her millions. Her wealth is a hook and vehicle for another message important to her: she is committed to higher taxes on inherited wealth and is a founding member of a task force on tax justice, which in June 2021 became the Taxmeno initiative.
With each wave of reporting, however, the impatience of those who feel that Engelhorn has been held back for too long has grown on social media. when was given. she Because. Now. Finally. her. Is it money? For them, a closer look at what feels like the same title always shows that things are actually moving forward.
A so-called “Good Council” of 50 citizens will now meet in Salzburg for a total of six weekends until early June to decide what should happen to the money. The only restriction on million-dollar heirs is that they cannot be used to support “objects that are anti-democratic, unconstitutional, or anti-life.”
This is actually more in line with the traffic light government policy, which is why Engelhorn could have saved administrative costs for “good advice”. In the end, 1200 euros plus expenses are added as compensation for carefully identified participants, reducing the amount for good reason.
After deducting costs for Engelhorn and survival protection, around 19 million euros will be good for the federal budget, especially after the Federal Constitutional Court's ruling on climate and transformation funding. And with a one-time transfer to a federal donation account with IBAN DE17 8600 0000 0086 0010 30, the hesitancy, hesitancy and reluctance will soon be over. and general peace.
That would also solve another problem: Since 2021, when Engelhorn's intentions first became public, high inflation has eaten away at his legacy. 25 million euros now has a purchasing power of just 21.7 million euros. Each day of waiting reduces it.
Since 2021 the same amount has been channeled into the media world, one must also assume that major opportunities in international capital markets are criminally underutilized. Of course, the 536 percent that chip high-flyer Nvidia earned is a somewhat unfair ex-post analysis. But anyone could have thought of investing in an ETF in the US high-tech index Nasdaq 100 (50 percent return) or the global index MSCI World (at least 34 percent return).
Engelhorn now reveals the possibility that his media presence will slowly but surely diminish. “I hope the media will soon understand that it will not work to keep talking to me,” he appeals to “Spiegel”. But things could turn out differently: the months-long consultations yielded no results A reasonably useful consensus About the app, millions go back to Marlene Engelhorn.
. “Amateur alcohol specialist. Reader. Hardcore introvert. Freelance explorer.”