The Austrian businessman built a sports empire under the umbrella of the global energy drink.
IMAGO / Eibner Europa
AUSTIN, Texas — Dietrich Mateschitz, who founded Red Bull and successfully pushed the energy drink company into the Formula One world, has died. He was 78 years old.
His death was confirmed just before qualifying at the United States Grand Prix. Formula One president and CEO Stefano Domenicali said in a statement: “I am deeply saddened by the news that Dietrich Mateschitz, a hugely respected and much-loved member of the Formula 1 family has passed away. He was an incredible visionary entrepreneur and a man who helped to transform our sport and created the Red Bull brand that is known all around the world.”
Mateschitz founded Red Bull in 1984 with Chaleo Yoovidhya and led the company into motorsports by the mid-1990s. Red Bull officially entered F1 in ’95 under a partnership with Sauber, a collaboration that ended in 2001. Three years later, Mateschitz bought the Jaguar Racing team, turning it into Red Bull Racing. But, he didn’t stop there. He also purchased the Minardi team, which would be called Scuderia Toro Rosso, in ’05. That team is now known as AlphaTauri.
In 2004, he bought the racing venue in Spielberg, Austria, that would eventually be known as Red Bull Ring, launching renovations and renaming the venue before it reopened in 2011.
Red Bull won its first Formula One championship in 2010, thanks to Sebastian Vettel, who went on to win the next three titles as well. The team also won the constructor title in all four seasons.
The team is now on the verge of another constructors title, which would come on the heels of Max Verstappen’s 2021 and ’22 driver titles.
As news spread through the paddock at Circuit of The Americas, Formula One teams shared condolence messages with the Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams.
The Red Bull sports empire extends beyond racing.
The company also owns soccer teams Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls, RB Leipzig and Red Bull Brasil; hockey teams EHC Munchen and EC Red Bull Salzburg; and esports team Red Bull OG.