4. Chalerm Yoovidhya & family

Age	70
Net worth	$20,2bn
Source of wealth	Red Bull
Nationality	Thai
F1 involvement	Team shareholder, Circuit owner

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Chalerm Yoovidhya is the son of the late Red Bull co-founder Chaleo Yoovidhya who passed away in 2012.

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There are 30+ members of the Yoovidhya family that own through off-shore companies in the British Virgin islands 51% of Red Bull.

Chalerm, alongside his brother Saravoot, are the dominant force, with Chalerm owning 2% of Red Bull outright.

Red Bull is the goose that keeps on giving. In 2019 dividends to the family amounted to €200m, and Chalerm was receiving an additional €11.4m.

Chalerm likes to keep a low profile, but he and his wife Daranee were mentioned in the infamous Panama Papers, which detailed their ownership of five multi-million-dollar properties in London.

The spotlight has also fallen on the family after his son Vorayuth faced charges of speeding, hit-and-run, and reckless driving, causing death after an accident in Bangkok back in 2012, resulting in the death of a police officer.

Vorayuth has been evading the authorities since then, with criminal charges taking five years to be issued then withdrawn only to be reinstated after a public backlash.

Yoovidhya’s involvement in Formula 1 began with Red Bull sponsoring the Arrows and Sauber teams before purchasing the Jaguar F1 team back in 2004, and as they say, the rest is history.

Red Bull’s F1 investment is controlled by the ‘other Red Bull’ co-founder Austria’s Dietrich Mateschitz.

Yoovidhya has always been happy to take a backseat and let Mateschitz call the shots.

Yoovidhya often attends races, unlike the reclusive Mateschitz, but the harmony between the two men was shattered in 2020 with the sacking of Thai driver Alex Albon.

Yoovidhya and his wife were big supporters of Albon, and it is believed Chalerm went ‘ballistic’ over the dismissal of Albon.

To rub salt in the wound, Yoovidhya had acted as a mentor to Albon, even moving to the UK to become more involved with the team.

Most commenters feel Albon had been given every chance to prove himself more so than previous drivers who had been unceremoniously dropped from the team mid-season.

It remains to be seen what lasting damage has been done to the relationship between Yoovidhya and Mateschitz.

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What influence does Chalerm Yoovidhya have in F1?

Well, in terms of Red Bull’s involvement in the sport, it is substantial given they own 20% of the grid and continue to invest heavily in the sport, but the real influence it would appear rests with Mateschitz.

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