Thai tycoon creator of Red Bull drink dies
Source: Agencies |
March 19, 2012, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
CHALEO Yoovidhya, who rose from poverty to become one of the world's richest men thanks to astute marketing of the "Red Bull" energy drink, has died in his native Thailand.
Local media said he had died of natural causes in hospital in Bangkok on Saturday. His age was variously put at 89 or 90, although some sources gave his date of birth as August 17, 1923, making him 88.
Chaleo was 205th on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people, with a fortune of US$5 billion.
Born into a Chinese immigrant family, he never flaunted the wealth he accumulated and avoided publicity. According to Thailand's Nation newspaper, he had not given a media interview or made any public appearances for 30 years.
His son, Saravudh, recalled how his father developed the Red Bull brand at home and abroad after his small pharmaceutical company started producing energy drinks in the 1970s.
"While the market leader of the energy-drink market mainly targeted the capital, Red Bull pushed into the provincial market first, gaining a foothold by distributing free samples to truck drivers," he said.
Chaleo later went international with Austrian partner Dietrich Mateschitz in the mid-1980s. The Red Bull brand has been promoted globally through a Formula One racing team and in the US by soccer team the New York Red Bulls.
Local media said he had died of natural causes in hospital in Bangkok on Saturday. His age was variously put at 89 or 90, although some sources gave his date of birth as August 17, 1923, making him 88.
Chaleo was 205th on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people, with a fortune of US$5 billion.
Born into a Chinese immigrant family, he never flaunted the wealth he accumulated and avoided publicity. According to Thailand's Nation newspaper, he had not given a media interview or made any public appearances for 30 years.
His son, Saravudh, recalled how his father developed the Red Bull brand at home and abroad after his small pharmaceutical company started producing energy drinks in the 1970s.
"While the market leader of the energy-drink market mainly targeted the capital, Red Bull pushed into the provincial market first, gaining a foothold by distributing free samples to truck drivers," he said.
Chaleo later went international with Austrian partner Dietrich Mateschitz in the mid-1980s. The Red Bull brand has been promoted globally through a Formula One racing team and in the US by soccer team the New York Red Bulls.
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