Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz received a €582 million ($615 million) dividend as his first payment since inheriting the energy-drink empire from his late father last year.
The dividend is the lowest paid to the Austrian shareholder in three years, and reflects a stutter in profitability last year in an otherwise exponential growth path for the company.
Rising marketing and production costs all but erased a 24% surge in revenue last year, leading to stalling net income.
Still, Red Bull distributed half of last year’s €1.56 billion profit among its shareholders, according to a resolution published in the Austrian corporate registry. Mateschitz owns 49% via his holding company, making him eligible for a €383 million handout. The Yoovidhya family in Thailand holds the remaining 51% of the company, based in Fuschl am See near Salzburg.
Europe’s richest millennial received an additional €199 million on top of the pro-rata distribution following a years-long tradition of making an extra payment to the company’s Austrian owner. Chalerm Yoovidhya was paid an additional €3.17 million.
Mateschitz took over the company in 2022 following the death of his father, Dietrich, who had founded the company.
He has appointed a new management, including putting Red Bull’s former head of football Oliver Mintzlaff in charge of strategic initiatives, while moving his father’s confidantes to his holding company.
Red Bull’s sponsorship payments exceeded €1 billion for the first time last year. It sold more than 11 billion cans of its caffeinated beverage, reaching net revenue of €9.68 billion.
The company spends almost a quarter of net turnover on marketing initiatives, including ownership of a Formula 1 team, hosting extreme sports events and sponsoring top athletes such as Brazilian footballer Neymar and Alpine ski racer Lindsey Vonn.
