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Dietrich Mateschitz
Managing Director, Red Bull GmbH- Stake in Red Bull
Dietrich Mateschitz's Journey so far ...
- Born in a family of Austro-Croatian ancestry, Dietrich Mateschitz did his MBA in Marketing from the Vienna University of Economics and Business
- After his graduation, Mateschitz joined Unilever where he was responsible for the marketing of detergents. He then moved on to German cosmetics company Blendax, where he was responsible for the marketing of their toothpaste
- It was on a business tour for Blendax that Mateschitz found out about the Thai energy drink Krating Daeng, which acted as a cure for jet lag
- Inspired by the drink, he co-founded Red Bull GmbH in 1984 with Thai entrepreneur and occasional duck farmer Chaleo Yoovidhya, who passed away in 2012. Red Bull is closely held by Mateschitz and Yoovidhya’s family. Mateschitz owns 49% of the venture
- The marketing guru introduced the drink in Austria in 1987 and later to other countries. The energy drinks sector grew rapidly as youngsters became more health conscious. Red Bull became a global hit, making its owners among the wealthiest people on the planet
- The Salzburg-based company's tonic is the highest-selling energy drink in the world and in 2019 it sold around 20 million cans every day; roughly, 850,000 every hour. The stellar growth was powered by sales in India, Brazil and Africa
- The Austrian businessman, who is a trained pilot and a skiing enthusiast, loves extreme sports and owns many teams — Formula One racing teams Scuderia AlphaTauri and Red Bull Racing, football club RB Leipzig of Germany and New York Red Bulls
Before you go ...
- Dietrich Mateschitz, who has crafted the company around extreme sports sponsorships, bought and rebuilt the Formula 1 race track in Austria and renamed it the Red Bull Ring
- He had threatened to withdraw Red Bull from Formula 1 racing in 2014 following a controversy
- The Red Bull co-owner, who is one of Austria's richest people, bought Laucala island in Fiji from the Forbes family in 2003