Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz was the richest Austrian. After his death, his multi-billion dollar fortune went to just one person.
His Red Bull group recently set new records. In 2023, Red Bull reached a record level: for the first time, the energy drink manufacturer's sales were in the double-digit billion range at 10.56 billion euros. Red Bull is one of the Austrian companies that continued to do business in Russia despite the war in Ukraine. A critical campaign by a Ukrainian activist network made it: “Red Bull gives Putin wings.” The company is led by a three-person management team. The budget for advertising and marketing in 2022 was 2.9 billion euros, an estimated 25 to 30 percent of its sales. This is rather unusual: German companies spend an average of a single-digit percentage on marketing measures. The bottom line is that the Austrian earned a personal fortune of 26 billion euros during his lifetime. According to the will, everything went to the company founder's only son.