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Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of energy drink company Red Bull, has died aged 78, the company announced late Saturday (October 22) in a statement.
« We inform you that Dietrich Mateschitz passed away today “Wrote management in an email to employees, expressing its” sadness ” and of ” his gratitude for what he has accomplished “. According to the Austrian agency APA, he died of cancer.
Born on May 20, 1944, Dietrich Mateschitz co-founded Red Bull (red bull, in French) in 1984 with a Thai partner, Chaleo Yoovidhya (see box). It was during a business trip that he discovered an energy drink in a bar of a Hong Kong hotel, of which he bought the rights of the company.
This shy personality was considered in 2022 by Forbes magazine as the first fortune of Austria, estimated at 27.4 billion euros. He owned the paradise island of Laucala in Fiji and numerous properties in Austria, where he cultivated discretion. Never married, always in jeans, graying hair, Dieter Mateschitz will almost never give an interview to journalists. His Red Bull empire employs more than 13,000 people in 172 countries, with a turnover of around 8 billion euros, and sells nearly 10 billion cans a year.
From formula 1 to football
The entrepreneur had bet on sports sponsorship so as not to depend solely on the income generated by his energy drink, just as much as to offer him unparalleled exposure. In thirty years, the firm has become an essential partner of world sport, from extreme sports to Formula 1, through football.
The commercial growth of its drink was driven by this strategy, which culminated in 2012 with the sponsorship of Felix Baumgartnerthe first man to break the sound barrier in stratospheric freefall.
Christian Horner, patron of theRed Bull team in F1immediately reacted from Austin (Texas) where the United States Grand Prix is held on Sunday: “ This is very, very sad, what a great man. It is one of a kind. What he has accomplished and what he has done for so many people around the world is second to none. […] Many of us have to be grateful to him for the opportunities he provided, the vision he had, the strength of character. And never be afraid to follow your dreams and chase them ».
F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali also said: deeply saddened “, paying homage to” a highly respected and much loved member of the Formula 1 family ».
(with AFP)
With our correspondent in Bangkok, Carol Isoux
Unknown fact, the Red Bull is a Thai invention. In the country and throughout Southeast Asia, energy drinks are enjoying phenomenal success. They are found everywhere in convenience stores open 24 hours a day. The Asia that never sleeps is fond of these drinks based on caffeine or other stimulants such as taurine in the case of Red Bull, a substance originally identified in bull semen, now produced synthetically.
The name of the drink Red Bull is a literal translation of its original version, Krating Daeng (red bull, in English), an invention of a Thai pharmacist in 1976, later adapted to European taste and carbonated.
Leader on the Thai and Southeast Asian market, although closely followed by its competitors, the Thai M150 or Japanese imports, it is particularly popular with teenagers but also with many night workers, truck drivers, plantation workers of rubber or even professionals of the night scene of Bangkok. It is exported and even produced throughout the region, especially in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The Asian energy drink market is estimated at over $9 billion per year. By lowering the amounts of sugar in beverages and pressing the argument of boosting the immune system, manufacturers predict steady growth for years to come.