Austrian Multi-Millionare Karl Rabeder Sells Off Fortune and Gives Proceeds to Charity

Karl Rabeder, a multi-millionare businessman from Austria, recently decided to trade in his luxury life for simplicity, and is donating the proceeds of all of his possessions to a microfinance charity.

By Kathryn Hawkins. Posted on February 10 2010

Image: iStockphoto

At the age of 47, most people are still working to obtain their dream homes. But Karl Rabeder, an Austrian businessman, owned both a stunning lakeside chalet in the Alps and a beautiful stone farmhouse in Provence, France. He also had a luxury Audi A8 sportscar and 6 gliders—as well as a successful furnishing business that had made him millions.

Now, all of his luxurious trappings are either gone or up for sale. You might guess that Rabeder got too greedy, fell into debt, and is now paying the price, but in fact, his sacrifice is completely voluntary: “My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “Money is counterproductive – it prevents happiness to come.”

Born to a poor family, Rabeder had become wealthy through a combination of luck and hard work. But as he became more and more successful, instead of enjoying his wealth, he began feeling troubled by his luxurious life. A three-week Hawaiian vacation with his wife was the breaking point.

“In those three weeks, we spent all the money you could possibly spend,” he said. But in all that time, we had the feeling we hadn’t met a single real person – that we were all just actors. The staff played the role of being friendly and the guests played the role of being important and nobody was real.”

Meanwhile, he became aware of the huge chasm between his life and the lives of people in developing countries, who lack basic necessities like food and clean water. So he recently made a drastic decision: to sell off everything he owned, and give all of the proceeds to the microfinance charity he had launched, which helped people in South America launch their own businesses.

Rabeder has handed off his lucrative company. He’s already sold his gliders, and his two homes are on the market now. His next home will be something small, simple, and cheap.

And does he have even a hint of regret about giving up all of his possessions? Doesn’t seem that way: these days, Rabeder says, he feels “free, the opposite of heavy.”

Filed under: General Interest, Heroes, Non-Profits,

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