thomar

i wish i was off to conference as i'm getting hammered w/ press pass requests from various parties.

my job blows. no internet either!

u in?

have another GK

i no longer have any competition: In a Surprise Move, Kasparov Retires 1 minute ago Europe - AP By JUDITH INGRAM, Associated Press Writer MOSCOW - Garry Kasparov, the chess world's youngest-ever champion and undisputed king the last two decades, made a stunning move Friday shortly after winning a prestigious tournament in Spain: He retired from professional play.

that's odd. it hasn't been released yet...

nope.

yeah, i've tried those on. they feel odd to walk in. i might go for the berlin adidas (the limited edition joints)

gonna take you 3 months to get back up to speed.

those are goofy!

yeah. i'm not GKing it w/ em.

my next shoes:

thanks. the guys wish you good luck too (see photo)

anything on for tonight? (other than the duke game!) i could go see hernan, but i think i want to do something else... you and stacey going drinking?

=

GK- want to meet in soho for lunch (indian food!)

no. it's done, and will be up on RA soon.

i had to go to zurich to get my first can.

The Soda With Buzz By Kerry A. Dolan Clever marketing helped Dietrich Mateschitz turn a so-so beverage into a billion-dollar brand. Red Bull, the "energy" drink created by Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz, doesn't taste very good. Nor does it sound very appealing: The berry-flavored beverage is spiked with mysterious additives like taurine and glucuronolactone. And at $2 for an 8.3-ounce can, Red Bull's retail price is at least double what you'd pay for a 12-ounce can of Coke. But it does pack some energy. Red Bull, with 80 milligrams of caffeine, has more than double the dose found in the larger Coke serving, and it has 110 calories per serving versus Coke's 140. Consumers downed 1.9 billion cans of Mateschitz's potion last year, generating just about $2 billion in revenue. By our reckoning Mateschitz's 49% share of the business is worth $2 billion. Mateschitz, 60, typifies a new class of billionaires who got rich not by inventing a new product but by selling an ordinary one inventively. Donald Trump gets a premium for his Manhattan apartments because he has propagated the notion that a Trump building is superior to comparable property across the street. Sidney Frank made billions by selling Grey Goose vodka, nearly indistinguishable from bottom-shelf brands, at a rich price. "When we first started, we said there is no existing market for Red Bull," Mateschitz recalls, in a thick Austrian accent. "But Red Bull will create it. And this is what finally became true." Since introducing Red Bull in 1987, Mateschitz has invested heavily in building the brand. Last year he spent $600 million, or 30% of revenue, on marketing. (Coca-Cola spends 9%.) But unlike rivals who pay millions of dollars for superstars like Britney Spears, Mateschitz relies on cheaper talent: hip youngsters, students and a legion of fringe athletes. Red Bull sponsors some 500 athletes around the world, the type who will surf in Nova Scotia in January or jump out of a plane to "fly" across the English Channel. Every year the company stages dozens of extreme sporting events, like the climbing of iced-down silos in Iowa or kite sailing in Hawaii, as well as cultural events like break-dancing contests and rock music jam sessions. Then there is Hangar-7, an eye-popping structure of glass and steel that Mateschitz erected next to the airport in Salzburg, Austria. The building serves as a chic eatery for club crawlers and provides shelter for the Flying Bulls, a fleet of 15 show planes that appear at air shows around the world. Mateschitz's latest indulgence: the purchase of a Formula One racing team, an extravagance that will absorb $100 million a year to keep on the track while generating only $70 million in revenue. All these activities are geared to one objective: to expand Red Bull's presence amid a deluge of new energy drinks being introduced by upstarts and beverage behemoths like Pepsi and Coke. So far the results have been spectacular: In some countries Red Bull commands an 80% market share. In the U.S., where Red Bull enjoys a 47% share of the energy drink market, sales are growing annually at a 40% clip. Last year it sold 700 million cans in the U.S.; this year it hopes to sell 1 billion. Impressive results for any go-getter, but even Mateschitz would admit he didn't exactly grab his Red Bull fortune by the horns. Raised by two primary-school-teacher parents who separated when he was very young, the convivial Mateschitz took ten years to get through college. "Life as a student is enjoyable," he muses, during a rare interview at Hangar-7. After graduating with a marketing degree from the University of Commerce in Vienna at the age of 28, Mateschitz worked various marketing jobs, including stints at Unilever and Germany's Jacobs Coffee. In 1979 he became the international marketing director for Germany's Blendax (later acquired by Procter & Gamble), where he pushed products like toothpaste, skin creams and shampoo. It was a job that took him all over the world. In Thailand he discovered the benefits of a syrupy tonic drink sold in pharmacies as a revitalizing agent. After the long flights from Europe to Bangkok, Mateschitz would down the tonic over ice. His jet lag all but disappeared. He decided to study up on the market. "I realized that these little syrups developed in Japan did extremely well all over Asia," he recalls. By happenstance, a Blendax licensee in Thailand named Chaleo Yoovidhya also owned a tonic drink company. Mateschitz floated the notion of introducing a tonic drink in the West. Yoovidhya loved the idea. In 1984 Mateschitz quit his job to partner with Yoovidhya. Each invested $500,000 of savings and took a 49% stake in the fledgling outfit. They gave the remaining 2% to Yoovidhya's son Chalerm, but it was agreed that Mateschitz would run the company. Back to the World's Richest People.

1/2. he's the smartest man alive.

why won't my cold go away? tell me tiny, tell me. btw, i got a ticketmaster email about U2 tics going on sale this monday. i'm guessing you already knew that though.

anybody have that feeling things aren't going well?

i haven't started my job and i hate it. they keep changing things on me this blows.

watching the game. AT YOUR DAD'S HOUSE!