The most popular energy drink in the world, Red Bullposted record revenues in 2022. This added nearly $8 billion to the fortune of its creators, the Yoovidhya family. The profits would be the result of a boom in sales, due to the demand for energy drinks to return to the offices and resume physical activity.
In mid-March, the Yoovidhya fortune exceeded 27,000 million dollars, most of it coming from his involvement with Red Bull. That means they now have about $7.8 billion more than in January 2022, according to data from Bloombergwhere they highlight that the profits of the Thai dynasty, majority owner of the brand, exceed those of any other Asian family.
Last year, Red Bull sold more than 11 billion cans, the largest market in its category. Simon Chadwick, a professor at the Skema Business School in Paris, says that as people return to face-to-face work and exercise, “they will need energy drinks.”
“Energy drinks have become synonymous with an active lifestyle,” Chadwick added in remarks quoted by The financial.
Who are the Yoovidhya, creators and owners of Red Bull?
The original recipe that ‘gives you wings’ It was the idea of the Thai billionaire Yoovidhya Chaleowho began as a duck breeder and became a pharmacist, details the magazine Hello! In the mid-1970s, when he was selling medicines in Thailand, he created a drink made from water, sugar cane, caffeine, taurine, inositol, and B vitamins. At the time he called it Krating Daengwhich means ‘red bull’ in Thai.
In 1982, the Austrian seller Dietrich Mateschitz discovered Red Bull during a business trip to Asia. A bartender in a bar offered it to him to ease the pain. jet lagged and he was delighted, so he sought out the creator.
Mateschitz and Yoovidhya partnered and invested the equivalent of 500,000 euros each in the new company. Chaleo, the original creator, retained 52% of the company, while Dietrich, the investor, kept 48%. They founded Red Bull in 1984 and released their first drink under the same name in 1987.
By 2003, the partners had earned more than €1 billion, thanks to turning their soft drink into a global brand. The firm has a history of sports collaborations sponsoring extreme sports such as mountain biking and motorcycling, it also has soccer teams and the famous team Red Bull Racinga team of which the Mexican is a part Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez.
Red Bull’s share ratio remains balanced to this day, though it did change a bit: 51% for the Yoovidhya and 49% for Mark Mateschitz. The latter is the only son and heir of Dietrich, who became the richest millennial in Europe after the death of his father in October 2022. He currently ranks 77th in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with a estimated fortune of 21,200 million dollars.
Editorial Team The editorial team of EMPRENDEDOR.com, which for more than 27 years has worked to promote entrepreneurship.