It has been reported that Austrian businessman Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder of Red Bull energy drink, died at the age of 78. The Austrian businessman, who achieved serious success around the world with the Red Bull brand, was also known for his investments in various sports branches, especially Formula 1, and his success in the media and construction sector.
In a nutshell: Mateschitz was born on May 20, 1944, in Austria to a family of Austro-Croatian descent. Both of his parents were elementary school teachers and divorced when Dietrich was a young child. Mateschitz spent his childhood with his mother. He graduated from the marketing department in 1972. Mateschitz's first employer was Unilever, where he worked in detergent marketing. He then moved to Blendax, the German cosmetics company acquired by Procter & Gamble, where, among other things, he worked on the marketing of Blendax toothpaste. As part of his travels for Blendax, he discovered Krating Daeng, the beverage that would later become Red Bull. He founded Red Bull GmbH with Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1984 and launched the brand in Austria in 1987. It subsequently made Red Bull the world market leader in energy drinks.
Along with Heinz Kinigadner, he is the co-founder of the Wings for Life foundation, which supports spinal cord research. The foundation has been organizing the Wings for Life World Run to collect donations since 2014.
* Dietrich Mateschitz never married. He has a son named Mark Gerhardter, born in 1993.
* The net worth of Mateschitz's fortune is estimated at $25.4 billion.
* While no explanation was given regarding the cause of Mateschitz's death, it is claimed that the businessman died due to pancreatic cancer in the news in the country's press.
Detailed life story
Dietrich Mateschitz was born on May 20, 1944. He was born in Austria Sankt Marein im Mürztal, Styria, to a family of Austro-Croatian origin. His parents were elementary school teachers and separated when Mateschitz was still young.
He graduated from the Hochschule für Welthandel, Vienna University of Economics and Business, with a degree in marketing in 1972. After graduating from college, Dietrich Mateschitz had his first job experience working as a detergent marketer at Unilever. He then started working at Blendax, a German cosmetics company acquired by Procter & Gamble in 1979.
He often traveled internationally as he worked in the international marketing department at Blendax. Again in one of his travels for Blendax, he went to Thailand in 1982. This trip changed Dietrich Mateschitz's life. His very long flight to Thailand disrupted his sleep patterns and was unable to concentrate properly on his work. While he was barely holding on to work and getting into meetings, one of his business contacts mentioned a drink in Thailand that gave people energy. The drink that worked and energized Dietrich Mateschitz was also called Krating Daeng.
Krating Daeng was translated as "Red Gaur". The word "gaur" refers to a bison found in the Southeast Asian region. “Red Gaur” also meant “Red Bison”. Dietrich Mateschitz realized that everyone who needs energy in his country should benefit from such a drink. Starting work for Red Bull, Mateschitz quit his job in 1984 and focused only on this energy drink.
Together with Chaleo Yoovidhya, a Thai businessman, they formed the Red Bull company by combining 500 thousand dollars and took the first step. The people did not support the sales that started in Austria. Because people never liked the taste of energy drinks. This duo continued production believing that they would be successful without listening to anyone. But during the first 2 years, they made a huge loss. The value of their losses amounted to almost $2 million. However...
Mateschitz thought word-of-mouth marketing would be effective, and gave college students cars with an advertisement for the Red Bull brand on them and asked them to drive around campus. In addition, student committees at the university started to announce Red Bull. Lots of Red Bull boxes were thrown out, and the brand became a little more recognizable.
It spread in Europe much faster than in Austria. In 1994 it spread to Germany and England. Three years later, it entered the market of the United States. Since entering this market, Red Bull has sold more than one million boxes daily.
After university, bartenders also increased their use of Red Bull lot. By introducing Red Bulls mixed with vodka or Jäger to customers, these two drinks became the two most popular drinks in bars. Now, at festivals, parties, and nightclubs, Red Bull was drunk not simply but with such mixtures.