Billionaire Chaleo Yoovidhya, co-founder of the Red Bull energy drink and the second richest man in Thailand, died at the age of 89.
Yoovidhya was born into a poor Sino-Thai family in the northern province of Phichit who made their living from duck farming and fruit trading. He moved to Bangkok to help his brother in his drug store before becoming a salesman, and later setting up his own pharmaceutical factory. TC Pharmaceutical Industries started producing antibiotics, but later focused on making the tonic drink loaded with caffeine, taurine, and glucuronolactone. This "Krating Daeng" was the result of a meeting Yoovidhya had with Dietrich Mateschitz in 1982, and nearly 30 years later, they hold a 70% stake and $5.1 billion dollar value in the energy drink market.
The pair each owned 49% of the company, with Chaleo's son Chalerm holding the remaining shares. Red Bull is sold in more than 70 countries worldwide, owns two football teams, Red Bull Salzburg in Austria and the New York Red Bulls in the United States, and, if you read this blog with any regularity, a pair of Formula 1 teams.
People have speculated his longevity was due to daily enemas of Red Bull, and by people I mean me.
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