Episode Details

In 1976 Thai entrepreneur Chaleo Yoovidhya created Krating Daeng, a cheap, uncarbonated, sweet tonic sold to laborers and long-haul truck drivers to keep them awake. In 1982 Austrian toothpaste salesman Dietrich Mateschitz tried it to fight crushing jet lag and saw a gap in the Western market that nobody else had noticed.

This episode unpacks the 1984 partnership in which each man put in $500,000, the 49-49-2 equity split, and the decision to put Mateschitz in charge from a tiny Austrian village. We look at carbonation, premium pricing, extreme sports marketing, the taurine bans in France, Denmark and Norway, and the 2014 U.S. false advertising settlement.

• Why the original Thai drink was aimed at blue-collar workers facing long shifts in heat and humidity
• How a 2% stake held by Chaleo's son worked as a tiebreaker while Mateschitz ran day-to-day operations
• Why launching at a premium price at Austrian ski resorts made the drink seem more powerful
• How caffeine, sugar, B vitamins and taurine alarmed European regulators until France lifted its ban in 2008
• The $13 million settlement, and how the brand passed 100 billion cans sold