Annamari Jukko uses her wealth to test solutions to social problems

Lahti-based millionaire Annamari Jukko is using her own money to test ways of addressing unemployment, inactivity and other social problems, Yle reports. She says she works full time but receives no salary for it.

Jukko funds projects that encourage unemployed people and offer cash rewards for exercise. She says the projects are not charity: she aims to tackle problems in the public sector using business methods.

Private companies cannot simply ask for more money or resources to solve problems, Jukko says. Instead, they must find creative approaches. Her personal wealth allows her to make decisions quickly, she says: she can decide on a project one day and start it the next.

Jukko describes her ideal as a society in which people help one another and contribute according to their abilities. She says everyone can make a difference, regardless of their wealth or employment status. For example, she suggests that a person dealing with substance use could teach Finnish to an immigrant on one sober day each week, potentially giving that person a sense of purpose.

She supports the welfare state and says she is happy to pay taxes, but argues that public money should be used more wisely. In her view, public spending should improve people’s quality of life while reducing costs. She wants political debate to consider options beyond cuts and tax increases, including experiments such as her own.

According to tax information published on Thursday, Jukko’s earned and capital income in 2025 totalled more than 300,000, most of it capital income. Tax records do not show a person’s wealth. Jukko’s fortune came from share sales around the turn of the millennium, when ownership of Eimo, a mobile phone cover maker, transferred to Taiwan. She was one of the company’s main shareholders alongside her father, Jalo Paananen, and her brothers.

Jukko says she did not grow up in a wealthy family. As a child, she learned what she calls the “banana principle”: bananas were once a rare treat shared among three children, but became less special when the family could afford to buy them every day. She later did missionary work in France with her husband and studied to become a teacher. She has not considered joining the family businesses.

Jukko says money brings power, and power also brings responsibility for how it is used. She believes people can help others in many ways, including employing them, investing in start-ups, mentoring or giving to charity.