BANGKOK, March 17: Billionaire Chaleo Yoovidhya, the co-founder of energy drink Red Bull and the second richest man in Thailand, died on Saturday at the age of 89, a company spokeswoman said.

Chaleo was Thailand's second richest man, with a fortune of $5 billion last year according to business magazine Forbes, having fallen from the top spot on its annual list which he held in 2009.

According to local reports he was born into a poor Sino-Thai family in the northern province of Phichit who made their living from duck farming and fruit trading.

Chaleo moved to Bangkok to help his brother in his drug store before becoming a salesman and later set up his own pharmaceutical factory in the old quarter of Bangkok.-AFP