Dietrich Mateschitz

Dietrich Mateschitz was born on May 20, 1944, in Sankt Marein im Mürztal in the Austrian state of Styria, into a family of educators. His parents divorced early, and he grew up largely without his father; he had a sister four years his senior.⁠[1][2][3]

He spent about ten years studying at the Hochschule für Welthandel in Vienna (today the Vienna University of Economics and Business) and graduated in 1972 with a degree in marketing. He then worked in consumer-goods marketing, selling detergent for Unilever and later working for Jacobs Kaffee and Blendax.⁠[2][4][5][3][1]

In 1979 he became marketing director of Blendax, a German toothpaste and cosmetics company, heading marketing for its international division.⁠[4][2]

In 1982, while working for Blendax, Mateschitz came across Krating Daeng (Thai for red bull), a tonic drink made by Thailand’s T.C. Pharmaceuticals. The non-carbonated, caffeinated drink was popular with Thailand’s working class; its creator, Chaleo YoovidhyaChaleo YoovidhyaChaleo Yoovidhya (Chinese name: Xu Shubiao; Thai: เฉลียว อยู่วิทยา) was a Thai entrepreneur who in 1956 founded the pharmaceutical company that grew into TCP Group, developed the energy drink Krating Daeng, and in 1984 co-founded Red Bull GmbH with Austrian businessman Dietrich Mateschitz.Open the full entry, had founded T.C. Pharmaceuticals in 1962 and was also Blendax’s licensee in Thailand. Accounts of where he first tried such a drink differ, placing it either on a business trip to Thailand or at a hotel bar in Hong Kong.⁠[6][2][4][5][3]

In 1984, at age 40, Mateschitz left his post as marketing director at Blendax and partnered with Chaleo Yoovidhya to found Red Bull GmbH, obtaining a licence for Krating Daeng. The two each put up $500,000 for a 49 percent stake in the new company, with the remaining 2 percent going to Chaleo’s 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.⁠[2][5][7][6][4]

Between 1984 and 1987 he worked on the drink’s formula and developed its brand positioning, packaging and marketing concept.⁠[8]

On April 1, 1987, the reformulated Red Bull Energy Drink went on sale in Austria; it then expanded across Europe and entered the United States in 1997.⁠[8][7][5]

In 1995 Red Bull partnered with the Formula One team Sauber, becoming its sponsor and majority owner. In 2000, after a dispute over drivers, Red Bull sold its Sauber shares.⁠[5][4]

Mateschitz co-founded Wings for Life, a foundation funding spinal cord injury research, with two-time motocross world champion Heinz Kinigadner; Red Bull provides the foundation’s financial backbone. Anita Gerhardter, the mother of his son Mark, serves as its chief executive. Sources give both 2003 and 2004 as the year it was set up.⁠[9][2][1]

In 2004 Mateschitz acquired Jaguar Racing from the Ford Motor CompanyFord Motor CompanyFord Motor Company is a multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, founded by Henry Ford in Detroit in 1903, with two vehicle brands, Ford and Lincoln. With the Model T and the moving assembly line it ushered in the mass production of automobiles. Its 2025 revenue was about $187.3 billion, it has about 169,000 employees worldwide, and as of October 2026 Jim Farley is its president and chief executive officer.Open the full entry, and from 2005 Red Bull competed as its own constructor under the name Red Bull Racing. In 2005 he also acquired the Minardi team and turned it into Scuderia Toro Rosso (later renamed AlphaTauri).⁠[4][10][7]

He also purchased the Österreichring circuit in Spielberg, Styria, rebuilt it and renamed it the Red Bull Ring. Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said that “The vision and passion of Dietrich Mateschitz gave the race the investment and attention that allowed it to return.”⁠[10][2][11]

In 2005 Red Bull bought the professional football club of Salzburg, and it later bought a club in Leipzig, Germany, which became one of the leading Bundesliga teams. Red Bull also came to own ice hockey and other sports teams.⁠[3][12]

In 2007 he founded Red Bull Media House in Austria to supply digital entertainment and footage to broadcasters and other media.⁠[3][2]

In 2009 he took over a regional broadcaster in Salzburg and developed it into ServusTV, which is owned by Red Bull Media House GmbH. Critics accused ServusTV of biased reporting and of trivialising Covid-19.⁠[2][7][12][3]

In 2011 Mateschitz first brought his son, Mark MateschitzMark MateschitzMark Mateschitz is an Austrian businessman and the only son of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz who, after his father’s death in 2022, inherited the 49 percent stake in Red Bull GmbH through the family holding company.Open the full entry, into public view.⁠[7]

In 2017, in a newspaper interview, he criticised Europe’s lack of migration control, remarks that drew a backlash.⁠[3]

On October 22, 2022, Mateschitz died at the age of 78 after a short, serious battle with cancer. Red Bull announced his death that day in a company-wide email, and the news was made public during the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said: “He is the reason that we are here.”⁠[1][2][5][10]

Mateschitz never married; he had one son, Mark Mateschitz (born 1992), with Anita Gerhardter.⁠[3][2][9]

On November 4, 2022, Red Bull announced a three-person management team of Franz Watzlawick (CEO Beverage Business), Alexander Kirchmayr (CFO) and Oliver Mintzlaff (CEO Corporate Projects and Investments); Mark Mateschitz said the arrangement was what his father and he had proposed and wished for.⁠[13]

On March 27, 2023, the Salzburg District Court transferred his estate to Mark Mateschitz; on April 12 of that year, Mark was entered in the Austrian commercial register as the sole shareholder of Distribution & Marketing GmbH, which holds the 49 percent stake in Red Bull GmbH.⁠[14]

Red Bull GmbH: Official website: https://www.redbull.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[8]

Wings for Life: Official website: https://www.wingsforlife.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[9]