Dietrich Mateschitz

Co-founder of Red Bull GmbH and architect of a global sports empire.

Dietrich Markwart Eberhart Mateschitz (German: [ˈdiːtʁɪç ˈmaːtəʃɪts]; 20 May 1944 – 22 October 2022) was an Austrian entrepreneur. He was the co-founder and 49% owner of Red Bull GmbH. In April 2022, Mateschitz's net worth was estimated at US$27.4 billion.

Quick Facts

Birth name: Dietrich Markwart Eberhart Mateschitz
Born: 20 May 1944
Birthplace: Sankt Marein im Mürztal, Steiermark, German Reich
Died: 22 October 2022
Place of death: St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut, Austria
Education: Vienna University of Economics and Business
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Years active: 1987–2022

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.

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.