Mr Chaleo Yoovidhya, the inventor of the Red Bull energy drink formula
WORD ON THAILAND NEWS: The Thai creator of the Red Bull energy drink global franchise Mr Chaleo Yoovidhya passsed away today (Saturday 17, March 2012). He reportedly died of natural causes, aged 89 years old.
Mr Chaleo’ s pharmaceutical company TC Pharmaceuticals created the formula for the energy drink Red Bull, which was originally launched in Thailand in the 1970s as ‘ Krating Deang’; literally, ‘Red Bull’, and had become a globally recognized brand by the 1990s.
The cheap energy drink was an instant hit with people working long hours in Thailand, such as truck drivers and labourers, and Red Bull sales rocketed across Asia over the next decade.
By the 1980s, the Red Bull logo of two red bulls charging at each other could be seen everywhere.
Between 1982 and 1984 Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz helped transform Krating Daeng into the global Red Bull brand which now sells in 162 countries worldwide.
Forbes Magazine ranked self-made billionaire Mr Chaleo in March this year as Thailand’s third richest man, or the 205th richest man in the world. His estate is estimated to be worth at least US$4 billion.