(Reuters) – Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, founder of energy drink company Red Bull, died of cancer on Saturday at the age of 78.
The businessman, born in the Land of Styria, in eastern Austria, created an empire around the energy drink Red Bull. He was considered the richest man in Austria and his fortune is estimated at 25 billion euros.
The Red Bull drink was marketed in 1987, at a time when energy drinks, already very popular in Asia, were still unknown in Europe and the United States.
Red Bull has since become the world leader in the energy drink market and achieved a turnover of 7.8 billion euros in 2021.
Very discreet, Dietrich Mateschitz has only rarely given interviews. He resided in Salzburg with his partner. His only son, Mark, aged 30, could succeed him at the head of the company.
(Report Akanksha Khushi, Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich and Michael Shields; French version Camille Raynaud)
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