Red Bull’s CEO Is Reportedly Launching A Right-Wing News Platform That’s Being Compared To Breitbart
In a recent interview, Dietrich Mateschitz expressed his support for Trump and criticized the Austrian government for allowing refugees into the country.
Red Bull has become much more than just an energy drink company over the past two decades. The Austrian company has held the electronic music-focused Red Bull Music Academy event series annually since 1998 and has built upon this cultural platform with radio programming, an exhibition space in New York City, and an artist residency program in Detroit. Now, as artnet News points out, CEO Dietrich Mateschitz has announced a new, independent venture: a right-wing news organization that is being compared to Breitbart.
In an interview with Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung on April 8, Mateschitz was critical of Germany and Austria's lenient policies on refugees, rallied against "intellectual elites" and political correctness, and expressed his support for Trump. He also announced plans for his new media platform Näher an die Wahrheit, which translates to Closer to the Truth. Mateschitz described the venture as a “research platform” and said it would operate independently of Red Bull.
In a statement to The FADER, a representative for Red Bull said, "Mr. Mateschitz gave a personal interview - published on April 8th, 2017. Our company values freedom of mind and encourages open conversation."
Though the platform is still yet to be launched, Mateschitz's politics have raised concerns. An article published in Handelsblatt, a German business paper, compared the billionaire's media venture and its proposed right-wing populist platform to Breitbart. The original interview with Mateschitz has not been widely reported on by English news outlets, but Breitbart picked up the story and reported on the interview in a post with the headline "Red Bull Boss Slams Mass Migration, Forced Multiculturalism."