Red Bull Patriarch Mateschitz and His Legacy – Economy

Occasionally Chalerm Yoovidhya, 72, appears in the pit lane or in the VIP area at Formula 1 races without many people noticing him. It was completely different with his long-standing business partner Dietrich Mateschitz. The Austrian was at least as shy of publicity as Yoovidhya, but the world still knew his face. As the face of Red Bull. Since its beginnings in 1984, the group with its energy drinks, media and sports companies has been majority-owned by the Yoovidhyas, a Thai entrepreneurial clan with a mixed reputation. But Mateschitz was free to do whatever he wanted with Red Bull; an unprecedented treaty granted him complete freedom. And although he was allegedly relieved of all duties as managing director in 2021 because of his cancer, he used this power to regulate his last earthly things precisely. Privately and at Red Bull. For the company based in Fuschl am See, this means that the patriarch rules there after his death.

On October 22, Dietrich Markwart Mateschitz died at the age of 78 in one of his properties on Lake Wolfgang. His death plunged Austria into mourning as well as excitement. Mateschitz, who has made it from a small marketing employee to one of the richest people in 40 years, was admired and revered by many in his home country. The posthumous preoccupation with him, however, also brings absurdities to light. A Swiss woman, for example, who had a fling with Mateschitz when she was young, exploited this in a rather embarrassing way and claimed to communicate with him in the afterlife as a “medium”. Whereupon the tabloid today asked her in all seriousness to conduct an interview with the deceased. The insight from this: “Didi is now in an intermediate station and is waiting for him to come into the light.” Thank God it’s “fantastic, everything is colorful and bright”. Well then.

There was no fight for the inheritance

Estimates differ as to what Dietrich Mateschitz left behind on earth; forbes The news portal puts his fortune at 25 billion euros Bloomberg to 15.1 billion. In any case, enough for a “battle for the inheritance”, which many prophesied after his death. But that didn’t happen, so far at least. Because Mateschitz took precautions early on. In the summer, the terminally ill entrepreneur received a record dividend of 866 million euros from Red Bull, 28 percent more than in the previous year. The amount is made up of his share of the annual profit for 2021, a distribution of originally retained profits and a special payment of 250 million euros. The non-profit Austrian research platform dossier published a copy of the relevant agreement, which Chalerm Yoovidhya also signed.

As expected, Dietrich Mateschitz’s private fortune, including the 49 percent stake in Red Bull, will largely be inherited by his only son Mark, 29. The successor at the head of the beverage company, which sold almost ten billion cans of Red Bull in 2021, will be the Filius though not. He will concentrate on his duties and role as a shareholder, Mark said, and retired from his few operational roles, such as “Head of Organics”, head of the organic beverage division. Instead of his son, Dietrich Mateschitz installed a triumvirate while he was still alive. From two of his most loyal paladins – and from a German.

Surprising replacement

The latter is the sports manager Oliver Mintzlaff, 47, most recently managing director of the Bundesliga soccer club RB Leipzig. Mateschitz is said to have been very impressed by his leadership qualities. Mintzlaff is the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and also Head of Sports Activities at Red Bull. In addition, Mateschitz installed two long-time companions. One is Franz Watzlawick, 55 years old and global sales manager since 2018. Although he was twice the company’s Germany boss in the course of his Red Bull career, from 2004 to 2009 and on an interim basis from 2014, he is hardly known in this country. Watzlawick is now head of the Red Bull beverage division. Alexander Kirchmayr, 51, will take care of the finances from now on. He is also considered Mateschitz’ foster son. After starting out at the OMV mineral oil company, he has been with the company since 2005, and Kirchmayr only received power of attorney at the beginning of 2022 – the springboard for promotion to CFO of the entire group with sales of at least 7.8 billion euros in 2021.

In exchange for the rise of Mintzlaff, Watzlawick and Kirchmayr, two veteran drivers from Dietrich Mateschitz vacate their management positions at Red Bull and switch to the private Mateschitz empire. Exactly as he decreed himself on August 26, 2022. Volker Viechtbauer and Walter Bachinger became “with effect from the day of his death,” according to a document, managing directors of Distribution & Marketing GmbH, in which Mateschitz bundled his Red Bull shares.

Dietrich Mateschitz seems to have ordered all of these personal details with the approval of the Yoovidhya family, the majority owner. Or, the internal contracts are designed in such a way that the Thais could not prevent or influence the manager’s castling. As a result, surprisingly, they will not have a direct envoy in the billion-dollar corporation in the future either. Red Bull connoisseurs in Austria were also surprised when Mintzlaff was promoted to top boss. Because it has been rumored about the Yoovidhyas for a long time that they don’t care much for the fact that hundreds of millions of euros flow into the sport every year; her enthusiasm for Formula 1, football, ice hockey and extreme sports is limited. Again and again there were rumors about disagreements with Mateschitz in this regard. His son and heir Mark Mateschitz described the relationship with the Yoovidhyas of these days as “friendly”.

In their home country of Thailand, the family, whose name also appeared in the Panama Papers, is considered to be hands-on, at least. As well as being politically influential and always ready to assert this influence. When Vorayudh Yoovidhya, son of Chalerm Yoovidhya and his designated main heir and successor (also at Red Bull) allegedly drove a police officer to death with his luxury car and high speed in 2012, he then went into hiding abroad. Possibly protected by his family, such a suspicion. In 2020, the Thai authorities surprisingly dropped all allegations and dropped the case against him. But that didn’t go well. Angry public protests and boycott calls rained down. Apparently it’s being investigated again.