The news logically made the front page of all Austrian newspapers. Dietrich Mateschitz, the founder of Red Bull, died on Saturday at the age of 78 following a long illness. He was right on the doorstep of the top 50 richest people on the planet, notes the Viennese newspaper, but with 25.1 billion euros he was “by far the richest Austrian”. An empire built on an energy drink.
“The self-made billionaire didn’t need to emigrate like Arnold Schwarzenegger to become rich and famous”recount The press. A short trip to Hong Kong was enough. There, he read an article in a magazine about a Japanese taurine drink. The idea of Red Bull was born, which “rather made people smile in Austria in the early 1980s”, reminiscent of everyday life. We kept telling him it wouldn’t work.
Soon a fifth title in Formula 1
Today, “with nearly ten billion cans sold each year, Red Bull is the world’s largest energy drink company and Austria’s best-known brand”abstract The standard. The group has 13,000 employees worldwide. Employees for whom it was better not to rub shoulders with the boss, underlines the newspaper.
Mr. Mateschitz, who shunned the public as much as possible, did not stop at his cans. His sense of marketing made him invest in the media and especially in sport. “It’s virtually impossible in sport today to avoid Red Bull. It is emblazoned on Formula 1 racing cars, it smiles on footballers’ shirts, it shines on athletes’ helmets. More than 500 athletes worldwide belong to the Red Bull sports family, as well as football teams on several continents, motor racing teams”describe Delivery man.
His Formula 1 team, launched in 2005, could well celebrate its fifth constructor world championship title this Sunday after the United States Grand Prix in Austin.