Tributes pour in after death of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz at 78
- Red Bull expresses sadness but also ‘gratitude for what he accomplished’
- Mateschitz hailed for his ‘vision, strength of character and never being afraid to follow his dreams’
Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who made the energy drink a global phenomenon and forged a title-winning Formula One team and a sports empire, died on Saturday aged 78, the company said.
Red Bull expressed both its “sadness” at the Austrian billionaire’s death and “gratitude for what he accomplished”.
Mateschitz, a reclusive man who rarely gave interviews, took a sweet drink that was already popular in Asia and adapted it for the Western market with huge success.
He was named as Austria’s richest person by Forbes in 2022 with an estimated net worth of US$27.4 billion.
Mateschitz invested heavily in sport to give his brand global exposure.
Besides its involvement in Formula One - the team’s Dutch driver Max Verstappen is the world champion for the second consecutive year - Red Bull bought the football club of the Austrian city of Salzburg in 2005, then Leipzig in Germany.