[4] Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz and Thai businessman Chaleo Yoovidhya founded Red Bull GmbH in 1984.

While working for German manufacturer Blendax (later acquired by Procter & Gamble) in 1982, Mateschitz traveled to Thailand and met Chaleo, owner of TC Pharmaceuticals.

He found that the energy drink Krating Daeng, developed by Chaleo's company during the 1970s, helped to ease his jet lag.

[6] Between 1984 and 1987, Red Bull GmbH modified the formula for Krating Daeng to better match European tastes by carbonating the beverage and making it less sweet.

[6] The wealth of Red Bull's founders grew with the company's success, and by March 2012, both Chaleo and Mateschitz had estimated net worths of over $5.3 billion each.

[7][8] Expanding its distribution to over 171 countries, the company sold over 11.5 billion cans of Red Bull in 2022, making it the world's most-consumed energy drink.

[10] The Red Bull company also distributes and markets a number of other drinks including Simply Cola, the Carpe Diem range of herbal soft beverages and the Sabai Wine Spritzer (the latter in association with the Thai Siam Winery in Thailand).

[citation needed] Initially, Red Bull distributed free cases of the drink to college students in an attempt at viral advertising.

Red Bull has since become known for its sleek marketing targeted at young urban professionals through various sports and entertainment-based advertising campaigns.

The current motto, "Red Bull Gives You Wiiings", directly plays on the stimulating properties of the beverage.

The METs complete daily missions that include sporting events, businesses, colleges, shopping centres, etc.

The brand also organises and sponsors the famous Red Bull Batalla de Los Gallos, a freestyle competition of hip hop which takes place every year in many Spanish speaking countries.

In the 1990s, Red Bull sponsored the rower Xeno Müller, who won an Olympic gold medal in the single sculls in 1996.

[18][19] Red Bull also owns and conducts the Flugtag ("flight day" in German), a competition where entrants launch themselves off a 10-metre ramp in homemade "flying machines" into a body of water (reminiscent of the Birdman Rally); its own version of the soapbox derby called the Red Bull Soap Box Race; the Red Bull Crashed ice, a world tour, in the winter extreme sporting event, ice cross downhill, which involves downhill skating in an urban environment, on a track which includes steep turns and high vertical drops.

Red Bull sponsors the Red Bull Rope Masters competition with the National Double Dutch League for the Annual Holiday Classic at the Apollo Theatre in New York City, an event often dominated by teams from Japan featuring fusion double-Dutch (set to hip-hop or contemporary music), and they sponsor other regional events in Memphis, Tennessee and at Morgan State University, to name a few.

The Stock Car Brasil team WA Mattheis was sponsored by Red Bull between 2009 and 2016; Cacá Bueno has won the 2009, 2011 and 2012 championships.

Red Bull is also sponsor to young Canadian racing prodigy Robert Wickens and teammate John Michael Edwards in the Champ Car Atlantic Series, as well as rally driver Travis Pastrana, MotoGP riders Dani Pedrosa, Marc Márquez, Pol Espargaro, Brad Binder, Stefan Bradl, Joan Mir and Jack Miller, American Superbike (AMA) riders Eric Bostrom, Ben Bostrom and Jake Zemke and British Superbike (BSB) riders Jonathan Rea, Eugene Laverty and Ryuchi Kiyonari.

Red Bull Racing chief technical officer Adrian Newey has been credited with designing highly-successful cars that are capable of championship contention.

Anschutz Entertainment Group was about to begin building the MetroStars their own stadium, but groundbreaking was delayed a month as AEG completed the sale of the team.

[26] In May 2024, the company purchased a minority ownership stake at Leeds United along with being the club's front of shirt sponsor in a multi-year agreement.

[29] In January 2025, was announced that Red Bull became sponsors of Club Atlético de Madrid until 2027 with a big financial investment in the coming years.

[33] Red Bull sponsors several fighting game players who compete in Tekken and Street Fighter,[34] as well as the Dota 2 team OG, winners of The International 2018 and 2019 tournaments.

[66] In 2010, the company enlisted engineer Adrian Newey to design a prototype racing car, the Red Bull X2010, for the video game Gran Turismo 5.

[81] Many of the company's early sponsorships were in lesser-known or extreme sports, including Olympic rower Xeno Müller, who won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics in the single scull race and BASE jumpers Frank "Gambler" Gambalie, Miles Dashier, and Shane McConkey.

[82][83] In the 2010s, Red Bull began expanding its athlete base to include athletes from more mainstream sports, including Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem,[84] Brazilian skateboarder Letícia Bufoni,[85] American skier Lindsey Vonn,[86] and American Major League Baseball player Kris Bryant.

[78] RB Leipzig has been divisive and the subject of protests by some fans but has also experienced rapid success, climbing through the German soccer divisions to get a place in the top-flight German Bundesliga and earning berths in the UEFA Champions League in 2017–2018 and 2019–2020, the latter trip ending with a semi-final loss to Paris St.

[78][97] The company also sponsors the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team and Red Bull 3X, a series of men's and women's 3x3 basketball tournaments.

[104] After more than a decade of absence in sponsoring NASCAR teams, the company announced a six-race sponsorship of Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch with Trackhouse Racing in 2025.

[105] Current and former Red Bull events include ACF Nationals (2009), Air Race World Championship (2003–2019), Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix, Art of Motion, BC One, Big Wave Africa, Cape Fear, Cliff Diving World Series, Crashed Ice, Dolomitenmann, Drifting World Championship, Flugtag, Frozen Rush, Indianapolis motorcycle Grand Prix, King of the Air, King of the Rock Tournament, Last Man Standing, MotoGP Rookies Cup, Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas, New Year No Limits, Paper Wings, Rampage, Red Bull 400, Red Bull Joyride, Road Rage, Romaniacs Hard Enduro Rallye, Soapbox Race, Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix, Stratos, Street Freestyle World Champions (2019), Trolley Grand Prix, Unleashed (2015), Wings for Life World Run, X-Alps, Xcbusa, Hardline, and X-Fighters.

[106] The company publishes several magazines: The Red Bulletin (lifestyle), Servus (food, health and gardening); Terra Mater (nature, science and history); Bergwelten (alpinism) and Seitenblicke (celebrities).