Following the death of Red Bull boss Dietrich “Didi” Mateschitz († 78), the energy drink giant will soon be faced with questions about inheritance and succession. The father of the energy drink, who apparently died of pancreatic cancer in the night from Friday to Saturday, leaves behind his partner Marion Feichtner (39) and his 29-year-old son Mark – and a billion-dollar empire with more than 13,000 employees worldwide.
But heredity issues aren’t just a main topic at Red Bull’s headquarters in Fuschl am See, Austria. In Thailand, where Mateschitz discovered the energy drink in the 1980s, a legacy of Red Bull has been causing a scandal for a decade – and has remained as if swallowed by the face of the earth.
It is about the Thai Red Bull descendant Vorayuth Yoovidhya (40), the grandson of Red Bull inventor Chaleo Yoovidhya, who died in 2012. It was his energy drink “Krating Daeng”, “Red Bull”, which had so inspired Mateschitz. The Austrian founded Red Bull in 1984 together with Chaleo. A success story followed.
Hit and run with death as a result
Thanks to Red Bull, Chaleo’s grandson Vorayuth has always had a privileged life in the lap of luxury. According to Forbes magazine, the Thai clan’s fortune is estimated to be the equivalent of more than 26 billion francs. This makes the Yoovidhyas the second richest family in Thailand.
Then, in 2012, the then 30-year-old jetsetter crashed his Ferrari at high speed into a police officer in downtown Bangkok. He would have dragged the body 100 meters – and committed a hit and run. Police followed the trail of oil from the damaged vehicle. It was parked in the clan’s garage.
And because Vorayuth is one of Thailand’s super-rich, he also proved to be above the judiciary. For five years he provided the authorities with a game of cat and mouse. Vorayuth shied away from judges. His lawyers said he was ill or on business abroad. This while the descendant of “Krating Daeng” led an exuberant lifestyle all over the world. Photos that circulated in the media showed him in London, at Red Bull races, in sophisticated discos, skiing or again in a luxury resort.
Escape in a private jet
According to a blood sample, Vorayuth had also consumed cocaine on the night of the crime. For some reason, this indictment material somehow disappeared from the files—at the behest of superiors, as subordinate investigators later testified. Plus: the charges of indictment were gradually barred. Vorayuth eventually fled Thailand in 2017 in a private jet. Since then, the former party animal has disappeared from the face of the earth.
In 2020, Thai authorities dropped all remaining charges against Vorayuth. But there was an outcry from the public. A boycott campaign was launched against Red Bull, mobilizing even the prime minister. He ordered a review of the studies that had been halted — which found that all of the studies had been “compromised.”
Traces walk in the sand
New charges against the fugitive Red Bull heir were announced and in September 2020 Interpol issued a Red Notice for his arrest. According to rumors circulating in March 2021, Vorayuth was in France. Then apparently a trail led to Austria, the headquarters of Red Bull, but this trail – a supposedly issued and never used visa – also came to nothing.
In August, the cocaine charge was barred. This leaves prosecutors with only one course of action to take against the fugitive: reckless driving resulting in death. It carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison. A charge that will remain valid until 2027. However, no one in Thailand seriously expects the Red Bull heir to ever be brought to justice. (keep)