Red Bull Billionaire Accused Of Not Paying Taxes

The heir to the multi-billion Red Bull fortune has been slammed in the Austrian Parliament and accused of paying no taxes despite earning a million times more than the average citizen.

Austrian politician Nina Tomaselli, 38, of the Greens, slammed Mark Mateschitz, the 31-year-old son of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz – who died last year – and accused him of earning billions but paying no tax.

Mark Mateschitz – who inherited his dad’s EUR 26 billion (GBP 22.2 billion) estate – is now worth USD 35.6 billion (GBP 28 billion, EUR 33 billion), according to Forbes.

The magazine lists him as the world’s 35th richest person.

Speaking on 5th July, MP Tomaselli told the Austrian Parliament: “Inside me, anger is boiling up.”

She held up a white sheet of paper saying “37,000,000,000” and asked the delegates whether they were able to determine how many digits this figure had.

The left-winger then revealed that this was the income of Mark Mateschitz in 2022, adding: “That’s a million times that of an average Austrian earner.”

She said: “The average earner pays almost 40 per cent in taxes while Mark Mateschitz pays zero Euros in taxes.”

The MP asked: “What are his achievements? Why is he eligible to pay precisely zero Euros in taxes?

“At the same time, workers and employees across Austria are toiling to pay 40 per cent.”

Tomaselli argued: “Rejecting the introduction of a charge which hits millionaires – fair enough. However, it isn’t when you claim that any tax on assets would hit the middle class as Mr Loacker just did.”

Gerald Loacker is an MP for the NEOS, a small liberal opposition faction.

Tomaselli went on: “The wealthiest five per cent of Austrians have more than one million Euros. Claiming that inheritance taxes would negatively affect the middle class is a fairytale.”

In her speech, the Greens MP said: “Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to become a millionaire with hard work.”

She concluded: “That’s why we need a fair and balanced tax system.”

Tomaselli’s comments were echoed by the Greens in the Austrian press and on social media where they received harsh criticism, with netizens and Austrian media saying that her comparison was misplaced.

It was argued that she was comparing the wage and income taxes paid by most people to inheritance and wealth tax.

But Austria abolished inheritance tax under Social Democratic Finance Minister Ferdinand Lacina in 1993.

And Tomaselli will further struggle to present herself as a credible ambassador for tax justice since her party has been part of the ruling two-party coalition government, along with the conservative People’s Party (OeVP) of Chancellor Karl Nehammer, since the general election of September 2019.

As well as his dad’s 49 per cent stake in Red Bull, Mark Mateschitz has also inherited a portfolio of luxury mansions including an island in Fiji, castles in Austria and an estate in London’s exclusive Knightsbridge.

Mark is the son of Dietrich Mateschitz and Anita Gerhardter, a 57-year-old former ski instructor.

The pair never married and were in a relationship for just two years.

Earlier this year, Mark revealed he is dating heiress Victoria Swarovski, in line to inherit her family’s Swarovski Crystals fortune.

Dietrich Mateschitz died aged 78 in October 2022 after a long period of treatment for pancreatic cancer.

He co-founded the energy drink firm with his Thai business partner Chaleo Yoovidhya in 1987 and it went on to become one of the world’s most successful products.

Last year alone, 11.582 billion cans of Red Bull were sold worldwide, making it one of the most popular drink brands on Earth.

Red Bull built its brand by investing in sports sponsorships from football to extreme sports around the globe.