government in Gütersloh" runs on de facto on public money, because Reinhard Mohn saved an over €2 billion in inheritance and gift taxes when he transferred three-quarters of the Bertelsmann Group capital shares to the foundation. Moreover, he asserts, the annual dividend payment to the foundation is tax-free and, with its annual budget of around €60 million, the foundation does not spend nearly as much as it costs the state in terms of lost revenue. Arno Klönne, a sociologist and political scientist, has argued that the Bertelsmann Stiftung's non-profit nature was questionable because, he maintains, it actively promotes the business of the Bertelsmann Group. Ultimately, he suggests, its goal is to manage society using corporate methods and to privatize the tasks that should be handled by the state. In 2009, a group of independent legal experts found that the Bertelsmann Stiftung no longer met the requirements for a non-profit organization. On the contrary, they argued, the tax exemption was unjustly being used for the purpose of carrying out a transformation of society according to the beliefs of the Bertelsmann Stiftung's founder, Reinhard Mohn, by means of private, tax-financed private policy consulting and by bypassing democratic decision making processes through public discourse in Germany's constitutional bodies. The Bertelsmann Stiftung has always rejected these accusations, noting that its non-profit status has been recognized by the tax authorities and is reviewed on an ongoing basis. Social welfare cuts In 2007, the trade union ver.di terminated its cooperation with the Bertelsmann Stiftung. The reason was that Arvato, a division of the Bertelsmann Group, declared the privatization of public services a strategic business area. A corresponding motion was passed at the union's federal congress against the wishes of its federal governing board. The Bertelsmann Stiftung is the driving force behind privatizations and cuts to social welfare programs, critics claimed. This assessment was supported by participants at "Das Schattenkabinett aus Gütersloh" ("The Shadow Cabinet from Gütersloh"), a conference critical of Bertelsmann. In addition to ver.di, other participants included Attac, GEW, IG Metall and the Otto Brenner Foundation. The Bertelsmann Stiftung rejected the criticism from ver.di in particular as a "misunderstanding," saying that both sides were not that far apart in their views on social problems. Notes and references Further reading External links 1977 establishments in West Germany Advocacy groups in Germany Bertelsmann Foundations based in Germany Political and economic research foundations Political and economic think tanks