The freewheeling culture allows Mateshitz and Red Bull to attract quirky people who have interesting ideas about taking the brand and the company forward. Harry Drnec, a former CEO of Red Bull’s U.K. operations was a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War and was credited with the spectacular rise of Mexico’s Sol beer in the intensely competitive premium-beer segment in London.

While leading Red Bull (U.K.), Drnec implemented innovative strategies especially in distribution focusing efforts on non-conventional garage forecourts, convenience stores and nightclubs and growing sales from 6 million cans in 1996 to 300 million cans in 2006.