Interpol issued a “Red Notice” last week informing member countries that Thailand sought the arrest of a Thai heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune Vorayuth Yoovidhya, involved in a 2012 traffic accident that killed a police officer, Thai police said Monday.
The Yoovidhya family owns about half of the Red Bull empire, and is listed by Forbes magazine as the second richest in Thailand with an estimated wealth of $20.2 billion. Vorayuth Yoovidhya, grandson of billionaire Red Bull co-founder Chaleo Yoovidhya,
Police Deputy Spokesman Col. Kissana Phathanacharoen told The Associated Press that the France-based police cooperation agency issued the notice last Wednesday. He said Thai police are contacting the 194 members of Interpol to ask them to provide information about the whereabouts of the 38-year-old Vorayuth Yoovidhya, who is better known by the nickname “Boss.”
A Red Notice is a request to police forces around the world “to locate and provisionally arrest an individual, pending extradition.” Some are made public but others are not in some circumstances. Interpol routinely declines to comment on individual cases on privacy grounds.
Vorayuth’s Ferrari ran into the police officer’s motorcycle on a Bangkok street in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2012, killing the officer. Within weeks of the accident, The Associated Press has found, Vorayuth, then 27, was back to enjoying his family’s jet-set life, largely associated with the Red Bull brand, an energy drink company co-founded by his grandfather. He flies around the world on private Red Bull jets, cheers their Formula One racing team from Red Bull’s VIP seats and keeps a black Porsche Carrera in London with custom license plates: B055 RBR. Boss Red Bull Racing.
Vorayuth has not commented publicly on the recent developments and his current whereabouts are unknown.Police announced in July that prosecutors had dropped a charge of reckless driving causing death after several other charges had expired under the statute of limitations. A previous Red Notice consequently was also dropped.
A public uproar and investigation led the reinstatement of the charges of reckless driving causing death and use of a narcotic substance.Suspicion was widespread that Vorayuth’s family used its money and influence to induce the dropping of charges, lending credence to the belief that Thailand’s rich and well-connected have impunity from justice.
The controversy triggered several investigations, the most important of which concluded in September that there was a conspiracy to shield Vorayuth from prosecution and recommended that those involved — including government officials, lawyers and a prosecutor — face charges.
History of Red Bull Drink and Yoovidhya family fortunes :
Vorayuth’s grandfather, Chaleo Yoovidhya, grew up in poverty, the son of a duck seller. He was known as a modest, humble man who insisted on privacy. He founded T.C. Pharma in 1956 to import European medicines, but over the decades developed more products, especially drinks sold by the bottle or can.
A few years before Vorayuth was born, Chaleo partnered with an Austrian entrepreneur, Dietrich Mateschitz. They put in $500,000 each to carbonate and globally market T.C. Pharma’s caffeine-powered syrupy energy drink popular in Thailand among laborers, taxi drivers and jet-lagged tourists. In 1987, when Vorayuth turned 1, Red Bull Energy Drink went international and his family’s fortune boomed.
Red Bull sold more than 7.5 billion of its iconic slim cans in 2019 in more than 171 countries. It has its own media company, a professional soccer team, race cars and jets. The company sponsors concerts, events and athletes worldwide, all ostensibly pumped up with the sweet drink.
Mateschitz owns 49 percent of the company, the Yoovidhya family 49 percent in a complex licensing agreement with T.C. Pharma. Vorayuth’s father Chalerm Yoovidhya, the oldest of 11 siblings, holds the final 2 percent. Red Bull reported more than $6.6 billion in sales in 2019. Forbes estimates Chalerm’s net worth at $20.2 billion in 2020.
