Red Bull Founder Dietrich Mateschitz Dies at Age 78; Instrumental in F1 Racing Team

Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who also played an instrumental role in the development of Formula One racing, has died at the age of 78, the company announced on Saturday.

Mateschitz co-founded Red Bull gmbH with Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1987. The company has grown into one of the biggest conglomerates in the world, with Mateschitz boasting a net worth of $15.1 billion.

The Austria native first got involved in F1 in 1995 through an association with the Sauber team before he eventually bought a majority ownership share of the engineering company.

Mateschitz purchased the Formula One Jaguar Racing Team in November 2004. The team was rebranded as Red Bull Racing following the acquisition. He also bought out the Minardi team 10 months later.

Red Bull Racing has become one of the most dominant teams in all of Formula 1. Sebastian Vettel posted six consecutive top-five finishes in the overall standings from 2009-14, including four straight titles from 2010-13.

Led by Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing is in position to win its first points championship this year for the first time since 2013.

Mateschitz also tried his hand at NASCAR when he formed the Red Bull Racing Team. The squad competed in the Sprint Cup Series from 2006-11 and Nationwide Series in 2010. No one on the team ever finished higher than 12th in the overall standings during that six-season run.