Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz, a man who co-founded an energy drink company that would eventually become one of the world’s largest sports empires, died last weekend.

💵 In 1984, he founded Red Bull with the drink’s founder, Chaleo Yoovidhya, and launched the Red Bull brand in 1987, eventually turning it into the world’s biggest energy drink and making a fortune estimated at $25bn.

But beyond the product, it boosted the brand’s image through various sponsorships and investments in sport in general and F1 in particular. It reinvented the way to promote a product through sport.

🏎 His facet as a businessman is directly linked to sport since he introduced the famous energy drink into the world of sponsorship through athletes, teams or even by organising competitions. But nowhere was Mateschitz’s influence felt more significant than in Formula 1; the Red Bull team has become one of the leading forces in the sport.

They also realised that getting involved in the world of sports would lead their brand to reflect the dynamism and success they wanted to be associated with, so they started sponsoring different athletes and events.

⚽ It is almost impossible not to follow any sport in which Red Bull is not involved, from athlete sponsorships, sporting events, extreme sports such as surfing, cliff diving, winter sports and mountain biking, esports, rally teams and the Dakar, to Red Bull’s ownership of teams in various football leagues such as the NY Red Bulls (USA), RB Leipzig (Germany), RB Salzburg (Austria) and Red Bull Bragantino (Brazil). Besides ice hockey teams in Austria and Germany.

Christian Horner, Red Bull F1 Principal, mentioned: “It’s important that we recognise everything that he’s contributed to the sport. Not just this sport, but it goes way beyond that.” 

🔝 Dietrich Mateschitz created a brand that went far beyond a simple energy drink. The reactions within the sports industry after his death describing him as a genius and one of the most influential figures in sports show that he was one of the most significant figures in sports in recent years.