Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz was the richest Austrian. After his death, his multi-billion dollar fortune went to just one person. His Red Bull group recently set new records.
Fuschl am See – The energy drink Red Bull is world-famous. In 1984, Dietrich Mateschitz co-founded Red Bull GmbH and became the richest Austrian over the course of his life. In 2022, the then 78-year-old died of cancer, at which time he was
ranked 51st in the
Forbes
list of the richest people in the world. But who got his fortune?
Red Bull founder Mateschitz died in 2022 – now his will has been revealed
Mateschitz made Red Bull one of the best-known brands in the world. The budget for advertising and marketing in 2022 was 2.9 billion euros, an estimated 25 to 30 percent of its sales. This is rather unusual. For comparison: German companies spend an average of a single-digit percentage on marketing measures. The bottom line is that the Austrian earned a personal fortune of 26 billion euros during his lifetime. According to the will, everything went to the company founder's only son, as
Bunte
reported.
According to this, Mark Mateschitz is said to have received a “double-digit million amount” as the sole heir, the shares in Red Bull and numerous real estate companies. In addition, six private houses and apartments as well as a piece of land became the son's property. According to
Bunte
, Mark Mateschitz's mother and Dietrich Mateschitz's former partner were left
empty-handed in the will, but were "excellently protected," it said.
The Bunte
report is not a huge surprise
, at least when it comes to company shares: Mark Mateschitz was most recently listed in 87th place in the
Bloomberg
Billionaires Index. The news portal puts the 31-year-old's assets at $21.9 billion (around 20.15 billion euros). Mark Mateschitz “inherited his [company] share from his father, Dietrich, who co-founded Red Bull and died in October 2022 at the age of 78,” it said.
Son of the Red Bull founder: Mark Mateschitz is the 33rd richest person in the world
The
Forbes
list even attributes Mark Mateschitz's net worth to the equivalent of 35.97 billion euros, which catapults the son of the Red Bull co-founder to 33rd place among the richest people in the world (as of April 9, 2024). In 2023, Red Bull reached a record level: for the first time, the energy drink manufacturer's sales were in the double-digit billion range at 10.56. Last year, 4.8 percent more cans were sold worldwide than in the previous year. “Red Bull sold 12.1 billion cans worldwide in 2023, enough to provide caffeine to every person on the planet,” according to
Forbes
.
After his father's death, Mark stepped down as head of organics at the $11.4 billion company "to focus on his role as a shareholder." The sole heir now owns 49 percent of the company shares, 51 percent of the Red Bull Group belongs to the Thai entrepreneurial family Yoovidhya. The company is led by a three-person management team. Red Bull is one of the Austrian companies that continued to do business in Russia despite the war in Ukraine. A critical campaign by a Ukrainian activist network made it: “Red Bull gives Putin wings.”