DiscoverHackINTERVIEW: The rich heiress giving away all her money
INTERVIEW: The rich heiress giving away all her money

INTERVIEW: The rich heiress giving away all her money

Update: 2025-11-26
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When Marlene Engelhorn inherited tens of millions of dollars from her grandma, she felt she had two choices: do something about it, or confirm she was "full of shit". 

Marlene lives in Austria and inherited some of the Boehringer Mannheim fortune, but she's also a campaigner against wealth inequality, calling for higher taxes on wealthy people like herself. 

Now, she's giving it away, redistributing her $50M inheritance in a bid to take herself "out of the 1%" she was born into. 

But can you actually leave the 1%, or is Marlene just cos-playing as a poor person?

Does having so much money inevitably make you a bad person? 

And what can the rest of us learn from one woman's decision to stand against the power of her own wealth?

Marlene Engelhorn answers all these questions and more in this extended interview with Dave. 

Guest:

  • Marlene Engelhorn, Austrian heiress and wealth equality advocate

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INTERVIEW: The rich heiress giving away all her money

INTERVIEW: The rich heiress giving away all her money

Australian Broadcasting Corporation