04/11/2022
NEWS STORY
Just weeks after the death of Dietrich Mateschitz, his son has named the three men who will now manage the company.
Franz Watzlawick will be chief executive officer for beverages, while Oliver Mintzlaff is CEO for projects and investments and Alexander Kirchmayr chief financial officer.
With sponsorship forming part of his remit, Mintzlaff will therefore oversee the company's F1 operations.
"I do not believe one should be both an employee and a shareholder of the same company," said Mark Mateschitz, the only child of Dietrich who now owns 49% of Red Bull, in a statement. "I will concentrate on my role as a shareholder, and I will interpret this and express myself in a way that makes sense to me and as I find necessary.
"Franz, Alexander and Oliver were our dream team," he added. "I am very happy that they will be taking on this task."
A former long-distance runner, Mintzlaff worked for Puma as Head of the Sports Marketing and then Ferber Marketing where he was a managing director.
In 2014 he joined Red Bull, working under Head of Global Soccer, Gerard Houllier, and was subsequently appointed CEO of RB Leipzig. In 2015, he succeeded Houllier as Head of Global Soccer.
Speaking in the wake of Mateschitz's death, Red Bull F1 team boss, Christian Horner made clear that the futures of the team(s) would not be impacted.
"The future is set," he said. "He's put in place a very strong foundation for the future. And with, in 2026, Red Bull becoming a power unit manufacturer, that was the missing piece of our jigsaw, and he had the vision to enable that to happen.
"And just as we've done with the chassis, we will take that same spirit, his spirit, into the future engine company."