The shock dismissal of Christian Horner from Red Bull could stem from a sudden change in the parent company’s ownership structure.
Documents filed in Austria show that the ownership structure of Red Bull GmbH recently changed, potentially having an effect on Christian Horner’s tenure with Red Bull Racing.
Red Bull GmbH sees ownership stake transferred
Additional reporting by Mat Coch.
Company documents filed in Austria recently reveal that Chalerm Yoovidhya’s personal shareholding in Red Bull GmbH ended, fundamentally altering the ownership structure of Red Bull Racing’s parent company.
On May 31st, documents lodged with the Regional Court of Salzburg confirm the deletion of Yoovidhya’s own 2 per cent stake, with these shares transferred to Fides Trustees SA.
According to its website, the Swiss investment company Fides Trustees is “an independent boutique Trust company that strives to deliver excellent service combined with a prudent yet entrepreneurial approach to Trust and Corporate Services”.
This sale thus meant that, for the first time in Red Bull GmbH’s entire history, the Yoovidhya family is no longer the majority shareholder as its ownership becomes equal with that of the Austrian side.
Why is Red Bull GmbH’s ownership structure important?
Red Bull Racing is owned entirely by parent company Red Bull GmbH, which was founded in 1984 by Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz and Thai pharmacist Chaleo Mateschitz.
To simplify their business arrangement upon their equal initial investment in creating the iconic energy drink, each took a 49 per cent shareholding, with the remaining two per cent being given to Chalerm Yoovidhya, son of Chaleo, as Mateschitz operated the company.
With the Yoovidhya family, headed by Chalerm, controlling 49 per cent through their TC Agro Trading Company, registered in Hong Kong, the addition of Chalerm’s personal two per cent stake meant the Thai businessman was thus the majority shareholder of Red Bull GmbH; this has been the situation since the company’s inception in the 1980s.
Mateschitz’s 49 percent was held under Distribution & Marketing GmbH in Austria and, following Dietrich’s death in 2022, was transferred to his son Mark by April 2023.
The Thai and Austrian shareholders assembled their new board of management in late 2022, appointing Franz Watzlawick as CEO, Alexander Kirchmayr as CFO, and Oliver Mintzlaff as CEO of Red Bull’s corporate projects and investments department.
This ownership structure has been in place since Mateschitz Snr’s death in 2022, and the majority shareholding held by the Yoovidhya family is widely believed to have been instrumental in Christian Horner retaining his job in 2024.
Reports from last year widely suggested that Horner had not retained the support of the Austrian shareholding under Mark Mateschitz, but the British executive’s job was saved by the unwavering support of the Yoovidhyas.
With the Yoovidhya family in the majority position and in Horner’s camp, this meant the Austrian side was powerless to remove Horner; that’s if such an outcome was desired.
With Yoovidhya maintaining this support, the two sides of the shareholding likely fell into agreement to leave Horner in his role.
The Thai businessman, together with his family, of whom he heads, was in attendance at the Austrian Grand Prix, where he and his wife posed for pictures with Horner on the grid.
Just nine days later, Horner has been ousted from his role as team principal and CEO of Red Bull Racing and, according to initial reports, was blindsided by the suddenness of the decision.
The change of ownership structure just over a month ago may have given either side of shareholders, whether that be Austrian or Thai, the opportunity to re-appraise Horner’s future.
The logical conclusion of this would be that, having failed in its desire to remove Horner last year, the sale of Yoovidhya’s two percent meant Horner was no longer protected by the Thai side being the majority shareholders.
If the decision on whether or not to remove Horner was not unanimous, the decision could thus have come down to simple voting rights on one side; for instance, despite being equal shareholders, the Austrian side could have had greater voting rights.
The implication of the ownership change is thus that, assuming the reports the Austrian side was prevented from removing Horner last year are accurate, Yoovidhya’s sale of his personal stake removed the safety net Horner had earned by having the support of Charlerm Yoovidhya.
Red Bull GmbH’s new ownership structure
- 49 percent – Distribution & Marketing GmbH (ie. Mateschitz/Austria)
- 49 percent – TC Agro Trading Company Ltd. (ie. Yoovidhya family/Thailand)
- 2 percent – Fides Trustees (formerly Chalerm Yoovidhya’s personal shareholding)
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