Red Bull Billionaire Grabs $765 Million Dividend in Year of Pandemic

(Bloomberg) -- Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz is getting a bumper payout of 680.5 million euros ($762 million) after his Red Bull energy drink empire grew unabated despite the pandemic gripping the world economy.

Red Bull GmbH, the holding company overseeing sales of the canned caffeine-spiked drink, booked net revenue of 6.3 billion euros in 2020, 4% more than a year earlier, according to the group’s annual report posted to the Austrian company register. 

Sales rose more than 12% in the U.S. and 3.4% in Europe, compared with declines in revenue across the rest of the world. The company also saved on marketing costs as the pandemic hit some of the sports events it sponsors.

That produced net income of 1.18 billion euros, a 29% increase from 2019.

Red Bull is paying out half of the year’s distributable profit plus half a billion euros of retained earnings to Mateschitz and his co-shareholders, Thailand’s Yoovidhya family, which controls 51% of the company, according to a resolution of the shareholders attached to the annual report.

Mateschitz -- who is worth $15.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index -- gets an additional 165 million euros extra dividend on top of his pro rata amount, according to the resolution, which gives no reason for the different treatment. Chalerm Yoovidhya also gets an extra 3.2 million euros. 

The bump from retained earnings will lift Red Bull’s total dividend to more than double the amount paid to shareholders last year.

Austria’s Dossier magazine reported first about the results and the dividend.

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