Austrian millionaire Karl Rabeder is giving away every penny of his 3 million fortune after realising his riches were making him unhappy. Mr Rabeder, 47, a businessman from Telfs is in the process of selling his luxury 3,455 sq ft villa with lake, sauna and spectacular mountain views over the Alps, valued at 1.4 million. Also for sale is his beautiful old stone farmhouse in Provence with its 17 hectares overlooking the arrire-pays. Mr Rabeder has also sold the interior furnishings and accessories business - from vases to artificial flowers - that made his fortune. His entire proceeds are going to charities he set up in Central and Latin America, but he will not even take a salary from these. More and more I heard the words: 'Stop what you are doing now - all this luxury and consumerism - and start your real life'," he said. "I had the feeling I was working as a slave for things that I did not wish for or need. I have the feeling that there are lot of people doing the same thing." All the money will go into his microcredit charity, which offers small loans to Latin America and builds development aid strategies to self-employed people in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile. Since selling his belongings, Mr Rabeder said he felt "free, the opposite of heavy".
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