On Saturday, Austrian billionaire and co-founder of Red Bull Dietrich Mateschitz passed away at the age of 78 after a long period of illness. Mateschitz always held a strong connection to motorsports which of course tied in heavily to the motocross industry with Red Bull's long standing support of fellow Austrian brand KTM.
Mateschitz founded Red Bull GmbH in 1984 with Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya and Mateschitz himself held a 49% stake of the globally recognized energy drink brand all the way until his death this past weekend. It's obviously a huge loss to the Red Bull family as well as the many brands Red Bull is connected to.
KTM Austria paid their respects to Mateschitz:
It’s with heavy hearts that today we pay homage to a friend, visionary and partner.
Dietrich Mateschitz saw the world, sports and activities that matter to us unlike few people before and few are likely to again in the future. His passion for motorsports, success and the ‘show’ matched our own, and his contribution to the KTM Racing story is as emphatic and strong as our own orange.
Thank you for everything Didi. We know you’ll always be Ready to Race with us.
