One of the richest persons in Austria, billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz made headlines on Saturday, October 22, when news of his death emerged. The Red Bull co-founder and Red Bull Formula One racing team owner was 78 when he died. 

News of Dietrich Mateschitz’s death was confirmed by the Red Bull racing team officials at the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. The Red Bull co-founder is one of the few billionaire businessmen invested in sports, as the company holds ownership of teams in football, Formula One, Moto GP, Ice Hockey and other sports.

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Who was Dietrich Mateschitz?

Dietrich Mateschitz was an Austrian billionaire businessman who was also the co-founder of Red Bull as well as the founder and owner of Red Bull racing team. He was born on May 20, 1944, at Sankt Marein im Mürztal, Styria, then Nazi Germany, modern day Austria. Mateschitz died on October 22, 2022.

The Austrian businessman had Austrian-Slovenian ancestry. While both of his parents were native to Styria, the extended family on his father’s side is from Maribor, Lower Styria, modern day Slovenia. Both his father and mother worked as school teachers but separated when he was growing up. He continued living with his mother after his parents became estranged.

Mateschitz graduated from the Vienna University of Economics and Business in Marketing in 1972. After his graduation, Dietrich began his career working for Unilever, where he was responsible for the marketing of detergents. Later, he joined Blendax, a cosmetics company.

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During his time with Blendax, Mateschitz discovered Krating Daeng, which would later go on to become known as Red Bull. He founded Red Bull GmbH in 1984 along with Chaleo Yoovidhya and launched in his native Australia three years later in 1987. The next years saw him making Red Bull one of the most famous energy drinks in the world.

While the Austrian businessman never married, he has a son named Mark Gerhardter, with a former girlfriend named Anita. Meanwhile, he had a pilot’s license and lived in Fuschl am See, Austria. The billionaire also owned an island off the coast of Fiji named Laucala, which he bought from the Forbes family.