“L’eredità è un’ingiustizia”: perché un 33enne ha ridistribuito 27 milioni di euro

**After the death of her grandmother, Marlene Engelhorn, the descendant of the founder of the German chemical and pharmaceutical companies BASF inherited nearly €27 million. An advocate for taxing the wealthy, she donated 92% of that sum to charities.**

It’s a world where the anxiety of making ends meet doesn’t exist. Where freedom seems infinite because everything is for sale. Where one is born with the certainty of abundance and power – the kind held today by the great dynastic fortunes of Western capitalism. “The ultrarich believe they are at the center of society, but in reality, they are on the fringes,” said Marlene Engelhorn, 33. They have their own schools and private clinics, live in ultra-secure neighborhoods and cultivate a discreet exclusivity.

Engelhorn knows this world of privileged heirs well: She is part of it. “I was inducted into super-wealth at birth,” she said. A descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founder of the German chemical and pharmaceutical company BASF, she became a multimillionaire upon the death of her grandmother, Traudl Engelhorn-Vechiatto, in September 2022. “I was a literature student, I didn’t work or do anything to deserve this money,” she said, adding: “Inheritance is an injustice.”

Engelhorn recounts how, at university, she realized the golden cage in which she lived. “Being born into a wealthy family has an almost religious dimension,” she said. “The ultrarich think they are more competent than the rest of the population simply because they can pay to see their ideas implemented, in politics as well as in economics.”

In a book published in 2024, *L’Argent. Pouvoir, richesse, injustice* (“Money. Power, Wealth, Injustice”), she deconstructed her own relationship with money and examined the increasingly glaring consequences of wealth inequality. In fact, residents of advanced economies are expected to inherit nearly $6 trillion by 2025, or 10% of the GDP of the countries concerned, compared to 5% in the mid-20^(th) century, according to [*The Economist*](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2025/02/27/inheriting-is-becoming-nearly-as-important-as-working). In 2023, 53 people worldwide became billionaires solely through inheritance.

**Read the full article here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/05/08/inheritance-is-an-injustice-why-a-33-year-old-redistributed-27-million_6741060_19.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/economy/article/2025/05/08/inheritance-is-an-injustice-why-a-33-year-old-redistributed-27-million_6741060_19.html)

a fool and his money are easily parted

shows how far right the world has gone that people now think donating your wealth to charity is an insane idea

respect +1

Her money her choice, personally wouldn’t throw away the money my ancestors worked hard for but at least she pratices what she preaches

Luxury beliefs

Anyone who thinks that inheritance is a good thing is not only stupid but also distinctly anti-capitalist and anti-meritocratic.

Capitalism relies on competition, and competition only functions when there’s at least a semblance of a level playing field. Inheritance plays a huge role in tipping the playing field in favour of some through no merit of their own.

Seems she lacked the vision to use it for better or to grow it. The economy is based on innovation and also consumerism. She had lots of options especially if she was passionate about something that is meaningful. Anyway she kept 2 mill so she probably will be able to invest and not work for the rest of her life. As the saying goes a fool and their money are soon parted.. or in this case her grandmothers. 

Wow. Couldn’t be me. I would inherent every bit of that

A true hero.

She still kept enough to be set for life though.

I was always curious. What you European guys thinking about progressive tax system. As I see it only works on poor and middle class so you never could become rich and rich guys will avoid paying taxes anyway so they are new aristocracy.

Perpetual dynastic wealth is a mistake that needs correction. Just as intellectual property expires and becomes public after a time, so should the excess property of people who are no longer alive.

Austrians man. They act modest but there is so much money in this country. 

Fair play by her. As someone who is probably going to inherit a decent amount in the future. I plan to give back, but I wouldn’t donate it all at once like that.

I plan to start an investment trust fund which donates its profits to charity. That way it can give back substantially and hopefully more in the future.

I read through the list and one of the biggest benefactors was a think thank that she previously had written stuff for that got almost a million euro.

I always think this money just made little one-time impact. In a few years that think thank is going to falter and the money is just gone, was used for salaries for their stuff and office rent instead of having this money invested in some kind of ethically sound ETF and from the yearly earnings their could be stipends or research and it would go a lot longer and have more impact that this PR stunt.

Good for her, she voluntarily made that decision. Now let’s allow eveyrone else to also make a voluntary decision about their inheritance.

Serious respect for sticking to her guns like that

You cannot have inheritance and claim we have a meritocratic society at the same time

Thats her thing. Do whatever, i guess.

What I think is that this pure idiology. Pure individualism is not a natural law. Inheritance is a collective work and why should this be a bad thing? It is not.

What is objectively bad for society is if people are bound to inheritance, family, etc. Lile, you cant develop into your full potential because your father was a carpenter and now you have to be one too.

If a society has upwards mobility its fine. Success can and should also run in a family. Its just natural.

The Limitarialism mindset let’s go!!