Wings Clipped: Red Bull Owners Get Lowest Payout In Four Years As Sales Stumble, Competition Grows

Red Bull’s owners have seen their ‘wings’ clipped a bit, as the energy drink maker distributed its “lowest payout in four years” to owners this year, according to a new report from Bloomberg. 

Its two groups of shareholders, Mark Mateschitz and the Yoovidhya family in Thailand, were distributed €810 million ($897 million) in dividends and related payments, according to the report. 

Bloomberg reports that Red Bull’s net sales grew 9% in 2023 to €10.6 billion, but rising costs limited net income growth to just 3.1%, reaching €1.7 billion, according to the company’s Austrian filings.

This marked a slowdown from the 20%+ sales growth seen in each of the previous two years.

The report comes during the first full year since Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz passed away, with his son Mark now holding the family’s 49% stake. For the first time since 2018, the Mateschitz family won’t receive a bonus payment, as stated in a recent shareholder resolution.

Red Bull typically distributes a pro-rata dividend to all shareholders along with additional payments. Chalerm Yoovidhya, who holds a 2% individual stake, has received €3.2 million annually since 2020, including for 2023.

Red Bull maintains a no-debt policy and is highly secretive about its operations, making corporate filings one of the few glimpses into its financials.