Dietrich Mateschitz - The Wings Behind The Bull

The wings behind the bull

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For denizens of the late-night clubbing scene around the world – not to mention a legion of marathon runners, mountain bikers, fighter pilots, college crammers, and truckers hoping to cover the next hundred miles before turning in – energy drinks are a constant companion, representing a manifestation of one of mankind’s oldest stimulants: caffeine.

We’ve known for centuries that caffeinated drinks work. They get you out of an energy slump and make you more alert. Coffee and tea are some of our oldest stimulants, but in the past few decades another beverage has come to wrest the caffeine crown away – the fizzy energy drink. Loaded with many times more caffeine than brewed coffee, and marketed towards sportsmen and people with active lifestyles, energy drinks have exploded in popularity.

The progenitor of the modern energy drink is arguably Red Bull, which also happens to be the most well-known of the species. Though competitors like Monster and Relentless have appeared in recent years to steal its thunder, many of the product characteristics: sweet, refreshing taste; active lifestyle marketing; and target audience originated with Red Bull.

The genius behind Red Bull is Dietrich Mateschitz, the Austrian entrepreneur who risked his life savings to launch Red Bull. In this issue of SME, we take a look at the caffeine-filled life of Red Bull’s founder.

THE GENESIS OF THE BULL

Mateschitz was born in 1944 in Styria, Austria. He took 10 years to graduate from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration with a degree in marketing – but his first fortune came in a much shorter time than that.