Dietrich Mateschitz passes away: Who was Dietrich Mateschitz? Interesting facts about Red Bull co-founder

Dietrich Mateschitz dead: Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder of energy drink company Red Bull and founder and owner of the Red Bull Formula One racing team died at 78 on Saturday.

Facts about Dietrich Mateschitz, the marketing genius

Mateschitz co-founded energy drink company with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya-- Red Bull GmbH in 1984,an Austrian-Thai conglomerate that sold nearly 10 billion cans of its caffeine and taurine-based drink in 172 countries worldwide last year.

The Styrian-born entrepreneur did his Master of Business Administration from University of Vienna.

Mateschitz's estimatshied wealth was approximately of $27.4 Billion as of June 2022, and he was placed at 51st place on Forbes' list on the world's richest people.

The self-made billionaire helped the energy drink become popular around the world and also built up a sports, media, real estate and gastronomy empire around the brand.

It was under Mateschitz' supervision, that Red Bull quickly increased its market share, first in Europe, then in the United States, helped by marketing campaigns promoting the drink's claimed stimulating properties and extensive sponsorship agreements in motorsports, soccer, extreme sports and the music industry.

Mateschitz built a global empire around the energy drink Red Bull and was considered the richest man in Austria, a Reuters said in a report.

Earlier in 2004, Mateschitz bought the Jaguar Racing team from previous owner Ford and rebranded it as Red Bull for the 2005 season. Later that year, he then also bought Minardi and renamed it Toro Rosso (which literally translates to 'red bull' in Italian), astutely using it as a feeder team for the Red Bull racing team.

Mateschitz also made headlines for his populist views. He criticized German chancellor Angela Merkel for her handling of the refugee crisis over 2015-16. The Austrian Servus TV station, owned by Red Bull Media House GmbH, is known for promoting right-wing provocative views, a PTI report said. 

(with PTI inputs)