They say Red Bull gives you wings, but for 30-year-old Mark Mateschitz, it is has also given him a 49 per cent stake in the company and the title of Europe’s richest ‘millennial’.
Mr Mateschitz’s father, Dietrich, was the co-founder of Red Bull in the 1984, building the company up to become the superpower it is today, becoming a billionaire in the process.
Dietrich Mateschitz passed away at the age of 78 three weeks ago, leaving half of the Red Bull empire to his son, including the caffeine-fuelled beverage company – the largest energy drinks brand in the world – and two Formula One racing teams.
The rest of the shares belong to the family of Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya, who founded the company with Dietrich Mateschitz back in the 1980’s.
According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mark Mateschitz is now worth $15.7 billion (AU $23.4 billion) and is currently the wealthiest European in the millennial age group (people born 1981 to 1996).
His inheritance also leaves him as the fourth richest millennial in the entire world, behind founder of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance Zhang Yiming, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and heir to Walmart Lukas Walton.
As of November 14th, he is also the 94th richest person in the world and Austria’s richest person.
A shake up at Red Bull
Mark Mateschitz was previously in charge of Red Bull’s organic division, which looked at drinks made from natural resources.
After the death of his father, he announced he would be stepping down from his role in a decision that “did not come easy” given that the initiative was “a project very close to [his] heart.”
Unlike his father, who was involved in the day-to-day leadership of Red Bull, Mark Mateschitz plans to divvy up the management of the company amongst a number of its executives.
Speaking of the shake up, he said, “I do not believe one should be both an employee and a shareholder of the same company.”
He continued, “I will concentrate on my role as a shareholder, and I will interpret this and express myself in a way that makes sense to me and as I find necessary.”
Who is Mark Mateschitz?
Mark Mateschitz, an only child, studied business at the University of Applied Sciences Salzburg. He often accompanied his father to Formula One races before he was a teenager. Hopefully with him as one of the lead investors, Red Bull can continue to flourish as an F1 team, as it has done under his father.
Mr Mateschitz was also a shareholder in an Austrian property business and launched his own beverage business which make beer and lemonade from one of Austria’s oldest springs.
It is still unclear whether he will be inheriting other assets from his father – including a Fiji island, castles and villas in Austria and a £32 million (AU $56.4 million) property in London’s Knightsbridge – but judging by his bank balance, he probably doesn’t even need them.
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