6. Dietrich Mateschitz

Dietrich Mateschitz (born 20 May 1944) is an Austrian billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder and 49% owner of the Red Bull energy drink company. As of 24 July 2020, according to Forbes, Mateschitz’s net worth was estimated at $26.9 billion, making him the 40th wealthiest person in the world.

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Mateschitz’s brands are consistently marketed as associated with the physical and mental attributes needed for various types of extreme sports through commercial sponsorship. Red Bull formerly owned more than 60 per cent of the Sauber Formula 1 motor racing team and was the team’s main sponsor. However, Red Bull ended its relationship with Sauber at the end of 2001 after the team opted to sign Kimi Räikkönen as one of their drivers for the 2001 season instead of Red Bull protégé Enrique Bernoldi.

In November 2004, Mateschitz bought the Jaguar Racing Formula One team from its previous owners, Ford, and renamed Red Bull Racing. In September 2005, Mateschitz joined forces with his close friend and former Formula One driver, Gerhard Berger, to purchase the Italian-registered Minardi team from its Australian owner Paul Stoddart.

The team was renamed Scuderia Toro Rosso, Toro Rosso meaning Red Bull in Italian. In 2010, Red Bull Racing won the Formula One World Constructors’ Championship and Drivers’ Championship with Sebastian Vettel. They then went on to win both titles for the next three years running in 2011, 2012, and 2013, making Vettel and Red Bull Racing four-time world champions.

From 2006 to 2011, Mateschitz also owned Team Red Bull who competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the K&N Pro Series East.

In late 2004, he bought the A1-Ring racing circuit, which had formerly hosted the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix, and renamed it the Red Bull Ring. The circuit re-opened in May 2011 and hosted a round of the 2011 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season.

Although Dietrich Mateschitz had stated that there were no plans for it to return to the Formula One calendar, in December 2012 Red Bull notified the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile they would be open to hosting a Grand Prix. In July 2013, Red Bull announced the return of the Austrian Grand Prix to the Formula One World Championship in 2014. The race took place on 22 June 2014 and was won by Nico Rosberg, driving for Mercedes.

Mateschitz has his own hangar, where he keeps his collection of old planes, including the last ever Douglas DC-6B to be produced, and which once belonged to Yugoslav Marshal Josip Broz Tito. He also sponsors the World Stunt Awards, an annual fundraiser to benefit his Taurus Foundation, which helps injured stunt professionals.