In 1976, Chaleo Yoovidhya introduced in Thailand a drink called "Krating Daeng", meaning "Gaur Rosso" (the Gaur is a wild bovine widespread in India, Indochina and Burma). The drink was inspired by a very popular tonic among Thai truck drivers and workers, the "Lipovitan", whose main ingredient was taurine (an amino acid).
After visiting Thailand in 1982, Dietrich Mateschitz (Austrian entrepreneur) discovered that the "Krating Daeng" seemed to diminish his "jet-lag" (disorder related to the time zone typical of people traveling by airplane).
In 1984, Mateschitz co-founded the "Red Bull GmbH" with Chaleo Yoovidhya (the creator of the aforementioned "Krating Daeng") and turned it into a global brand.
Red Bull was founded with a capital of around one million dollars, 500, 000 each each. Yoovidhya and Mateschitz held a 49% stake each, while the remaining 2% was attributed to Yoovidhya's son (Chalerm Yoovidhya), although Mateschitz would almost entirely run the entire company.
The product was launched in Austria in 1987.
In 1992, Red Bull was spread to the international markets of Hungary and Slovenia.
He entered the United States, more precisely in California, in 1997 and in the Middle East in 2000.
In 2008, the magazine "Forbes" cited Chaleo and Mateschitz as the 250th richest people in the world, with an estimated net worth of 4 billion dollars.
The headquarters of Red Bull is in "Fuschl am See", an Austrian village of 1500 inhabitants near Salzburg. The building is unmarked and heavily guarded. As you'd expect from a similar company, you don't give interviews!
