Dietrich Mateschitz, co-founder and co-owner of Red Bull, died on Saturday after a protracted illness. He was 78.
The Austrian businessman was valued at more than $27 billion, a wealth he accumulated via his marketing brilliance, which he honed while working for a German consumer goods company.
According to Forbes, he co-founded the energy drink with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya, who died in 2012. Because of their effectiveness in linking the brand to extreme performance, the energy drink proved popular and has dominated the category. Last year, the firm sold roughly 10 billion cans.
Red Bull issued an email to all workers telling them of Mateschitz’s death.
“In these moments, the over-riding feeling is one of sadness,” the company said. “But soon the sadness will make way for gratitude – gratitude for what he changed, moved, encouraged and made possible for so many individual people. We will remain connected to him respectfully and lovingly.”
The company said that it was every employee’s job to “continue his life’s work in his spirit.”
Employees were encouraged to observe his request to express their grief in “silence and restraint.”
Mateschitz was a right-wing populist who criticized European nations for their “blindness” in welcoming the migrant crisis that engulfed the continent in 2015, claiming that “it was clear from the start that most of the people weren’t refugees, at least not according to the definition of the term in the Geneva Conventions.”
Mateschitz slammed “intellectual elites” for political correctness and stated he was vehemently opposed to being instructed what to think.
Mateschitz was an avid Formula One racer, winning many titles with the Red Bull team.
Mohammed Ben Sulayem, head of motorsports governing organization Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), issued a statement Saturday afternoon in response to Mateschitz’s death.
“I am deeply saddened to hear the news that Dietrich Mateschitz has passed away,” Sulayem said. “He was a towering figure in motor sport and with Red Bull not only established two hugely successful Formula 1 teams but also supported motor sport of every kind and helped the careers of countless young drivers through Red Bull’s junior programmes.”
“The thoughts of all the FIA family are with his loved ones at this time and he will be greatly missed,” he added.