Dietrich Mateschitz

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Mateschitz worked in marketing for Unilever and Blendax. While travelling in Thailand, he discovered the drink Krating Daeng, which he adapted into Red Bull. He founded Red Bull GmbH in 1984 and launched it in Austria in 1987. His company acquired or founded several sports teams around the world, including six-time Constructors' Champions Red Bull Racing and sister team Racing Bulls in Formula One, and association football teams including FC Red Bull Salzburg and RB Leipzig.

In Their Own Story

Mateschitz was known for his reclusive nature, avoiding the celebrity circuit and watching most Formula One races on TV despite owning two teams. He rarely gave interviews and refused to answer questions about his son. He was also known for his simplicity of dress, often wearing casual clothing including denim pants and sunglasses. In the 2022 season, Red Bull's last Formula One season overseen by Mateschitz, Max Verstappen retained his title, the sixth by a Red Bull driver. Mateschitz was heavily involved in setting up Red Bull Powertrains following Honda's withdrawal from the sport, and the power units were named in his honour.

Reader's Guide

Mateschitz was born on 20 May 1944, in Sankt Marein im Mürztal, Styria, Austria, to a family of Slovene-Styrian or Croatian ancestry. He attended the Hochschule für Welthandel (now Vienna University of Economics and Business), where after ten years, he graduated with a marketing degree in 1972. He was keen and passionate about extreme sports at an early age. His first employer was Unilever, where he worked marketing detergents. He subsequently moved to Blendax, where he worked on the marketing of Blendax toothpaste. It was as part of his travels for Blendax that he bought a bottle of Krating Daeng. Sensing commercial opportunities, he struck a partnership deal with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya. In 1984, he founded Red Bull GmbH with Yoovidhya, launching the brand in Austria in 1987. He worked on the formula for around three years before the modified drink was launched under the new name Red Bull in 1987. Mateschitz also owned Seitenblicke, Austria's top society magazine, and founded Media House in Austria in 2007. He owned ServusTV, a television channel based in Salzburg. In motorsport, in November 2004, Mateschitz bought the failing Jaguar Racing Formula One team from Ford for $1. He renamed Jaguar as Red Bull Racing in the following season in 2005, and recruited former Formula-2 driver Christian Horner as team principal while also bringing one of the sport's leading design engineer Adrian Newey on board as the technical director. In September 2005, Mateschitz joined forces with Gerhard Berger to purchase the Minardi team, renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso in 2006, Scuderia AlphaTauri in 2020, and Racing Bulls in 2024. Sebastian Vettel won the 2008 Italian Grand Prix for Toro Rosso. His victory at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix was the first for Red Bull Racing. In 2010, Red Bull Racing won the Formula One World Constructors' Championship and Vettel won the Drivers' Championship. They then won both titles for the next three years running in 2011, 2012, and 2013. Red Bull retained their Renault power amidst the arrival of turbo-hybrid engines in 2014. Mercedes had a much more powerful engine, leading to sustained dominance from 2014 to 2020. Red Bull's unreliable and slow Renault engine led to a rough patch; while Red Bull was able to win races, the most notable being Max Verstappen on his Red Bull debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, the team ultimately went w

Did You Know?

• Mateschitz discovered Krating Daeng while traveling for Blendax and adapted it into Red Bull.
• He bought the failing Jaguar Racing Formula One team from Ford for $1 in November 2004.
• Red Bull's power units from 2026 onwards were named in Mateschitz's honour.
• He co-founded the Wings for Life foundation for spinal cord research.