Chaleo Yoovidhya

Chaleo Yoovidhya was born in Phichit Province in central Thailand to a Chinese father and a Thai mother. Records of his birth year differ; one gives August 17, 1923.⁠[1]

His father was an immigrant to Thailand from Hainan, China; Hainan was his father’s birthplace and the family’s ancestral home. The family made a living raising ducks and selling fruit.⁠[2][3][4]

He began his career as a pharmaceutical salesman and worked for seven years as a salesman for a company distributing a foreign antibiotic.⁠[5][2]

On March 27, 1956, Chaleo founded T.C. Pharmaceutical Ltd., with its first office in a rented building in Rambuttri Alley on Khaosan Road in Bangkok. The company’s early products were formulated in-house and made by a German manufacturer. He later set up a manufacturing facility in Bangkok called T.C. Mycin, developing pain relievers, fever reducers, antibiotics and eye and ear drops, and advertised in cinemas, on radio and on taxi lightboxes.⁠[5][6]

In this period the company moved its plant to Ekachai Road in Bangkok’s Bang Bon District and entered consumer goods with the cosmetics brand “Tattoo.” After researching energy drinks, it launched Theoplex-D Syrup in a 100 ml size, whose trademark of two charging red bulls led consumers to call it “Krating Daeng” (Red Bull).⁠[5][6][7]

In 1975, Chaleo developed Krating Daeng, an energy drink with a distinctive flavour. The company then launched the 150 ml Krating Daeng energy drink, promoted through the “Red Bull Soo Sa” campaign with price cuts and premiums given in exchange for used bottle caps. The drink first became popular among truck drivers and blue-collar workers in Thailand.⁠[8][5][1]

On August 28, 1978, T.C. Pharmaceutical Industries Co., Ltd. was established to manufacture and export Krating Daeng, with Singapore as its first export market.⁠[5][7]

Austrian businessman Dietrich Mateschitz, who sold consumer goods to Chaleo’s company, came to know him through that business. In 1982, Mateschitz tried Krating Daeng and later approached Chaleo about bringing the drink to Europe.⁠[6][4][9]

In 1984 the two men jointly founded Red Bull GmbH in Austria. TCP Group says Chaleo and his family held 51% of the shares and Mateschitz 49%; of that, Chaleo himself owned 49%, and the other 2% went to one of his sons when the company was formed.⁠[5][10][9]

The two modified the drink’s formula, and Red Bull Energy Drink was launched under the Red Bull name in Austria on April 1, 1987.⁠[1][11]

In 1988 the company established Red Bull Beverage Co., Ltd. to focus on brand building, marketing and sales, and developed products including Red Bull coffee and Red Bull cola.⁠[5]

In 1993, Chaleo set up the first Red Bull factory in China, Hainan Red Bull Beverage Co., Ltd., in Hainan Province, bringing Red Bull into the Chinese market.⁠[3][12]

In 1996 the company founded T.G. Vending and Showcase Industries Co., Ltd. to expand distribution through vending machines; the manufacturing plant later moved to a 2,000-rai site in Ban Sang District, Prachinburi Province; and in 2002 the company founded the full-scale distributor Durbell Co., Ltd.⁠[5]

Chaleo died of natural causes in Bangkok on March 17, 2012, at the age of 89. The company posted a message of condolence on its website.⁠[10][1][4]

One of his sons said Chaleo gave no media interviews and made no public appearances in the last 30 years of his life.⁠[9]

On September 3, 2012, a Ferrari driven by Chaleo’s grandson Vorayuth Yoovidhya struck the motorcycle of a Thong Lor police officer, who was killed. Vorayuth’s family does not dispute that he was driving but blames the officer, saying he veered suddenly across his path. In April 2017 a court issued an arrest warrant; he had left Thailand three days earlier.⁠[13][14][15][16]

In July 2020 police said prosecutors had issued a final non-prosecution order in June and the charges were dropped, which caused widespread anger in Thailand; in August that year a court issued a new arrest warrant on charges of causing death by negligent driving and use of a narcotic substance. The charge still in force against him is reckless driving causing death, whose statute of limitations expires in 2027. He has remained abroad and has not been tried.⁠[17][14][13][16]

Chaleo had 11 children. His eldest son, Chalerm YoovidhyaChalerm YoovidhyaChalerm Yoovidhya (Thai: เฉลิม อยู่วิทยา) is a Thai businessman, the eldest son of Red Bull co-founder Chaleo Yoovidhya, who heads the Yoovidhya family that co-owns Red Bull.Open the full entry, personally held a 2% stake in Red Bull and in 2025 transferred it to a Geneva trust company; the Yoovidhya family still holds a 49% stake in Red Bull through a Hong Kong-based holding company.⁠[8][18][19]

Chaleo’s wife, Pavana Langthara, is chairman of the board of TCP Group, and his son Saravoot YoovidhyaSaravoot YoovidhyaSaravoot Yoovidhya (Chinese name: Xu Xinxiong; Thai: สราวุฒิ อยู่วิทยา) is a Thai business executive and chief executive officer of TCP Group, the Thai maker of Krating Daeng and Red Bull.Open the full entry is chief executive officer; his children Suthirat, Jiravat, Pranadda, Supeeya and Nucharee also serve as directors or presidents of the group.⁠[2][20][8]

TCP Group: Official website: https://www.tcp.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[5]

Red Bull GmbH: Official website: https://www.redbull.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[11]