VIENNA – Formula One world champion Max Verstappen led the tributes on Sunday to Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who turned the energy drink into a worldwide success and pumped money into a title-winning F1 team and several football clubs.
Mateschitz died on Saturday at the age of 78 after a long illness, having amassed a fortune estimated by Forbes at $27.4 billion (27.8 billion euros), making him Austria’s richest person.
He took a sweet drink that was already popular in Asia for its apparent energy-giving properties and adapted it to Western tastes.
Mateschitz was a savvy marketing man who popularised the Red Bull brand by…