Austin (US), Oct 23: Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, the co-founder of energy drink company Red Bull and founder and owner of the Red Bull Formula One racing team, has died. He was 78.
Officials with the Red Bull racing team at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, announced Mateschitz’s death Saturday. There was no immediate word where he died, or a cause of death.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of motor sports governing body FIA, said Mateschitz was “a towering figure in motor sport.” “The thoughts of all the FIA family are with his loved ones at this time and he will be greatly missed.” Mateschitz gained fame as the public face of Red Bull, an Austrian-Thai conglomerate that sold nearly 10 billion cans of its caffeine and taurine-based drink in 172 countries worldwide last year. (AP)
