The announcement of his death was like his life. In a sea of marketing content, the Red Bull website published a brief message on Saturday October 22: “Dierich Mateschitz died today. » No details are provided on the circumstances and place of death of the wealthy Austrian known for having founded the most famous energy drink, undisputed king of marketing without having ever or almost given an interview. The company says it has just asked its more than thirteen thousand employees worldwide “to respect his wish to express their grief in silence and restraint”.
Dead at the age of 78, Mateschitz, more often affectionately nicknamed “Didi” in his country, was nevertheless at the origin of the most famous Austrian company internationally. From its headquarters, installed on the shores of a lake in the Salzburg region, it boasts of having sold, in 2021, nearly 10 billion cans marked with the famous logo with the two bulls and filled with a beverage. with a pronounced chemical taste. The German-speaking press had just recently noted the absence of the boss with white hair and a big smile, who never wore a tie to the sporting events he sponsored, suggesting that he was suffering “from a long illness”.
Born on May 20, 1944 in a small town in the Mürz valley, in central Austria, “Didi” studied commerce in Vienna before initially pursuing an anonymous career in the marketing of several large groups, including multinational Unilever. According to the official story – there has never been another – it was in 1982, at the age of 38, that the Austrian had the revelation that would change his life. While on a business trip to Hong Kong on behalf of a German toothpaste brand, he came across a press article in which he was surprised to learn that Japan’s greatest fortune was the boss of an unknown energy drink company in West.
Disastrous consumer tests
Fascinated, he continued his research and discovered in Thailand Krating Daeng (“red bull” in Thai), a caffeine-based energy drink produced by a local family business. In 1984, he succeeded in convincing the family, the Yoovidhyas, to allow him to export their formula outside of Asia. He obtained an exclusive license and founded with them, in 1986, in Austria, Red Bull Trading GmbH. Even today, the Yoovidhya heirs hold 51% of the shares of the group, even if it was Mateschitz who made all the operational decisions. In 1987, the first can was launched on the market, with a recipe made more bubbly compared to the Thai original.
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