Gerrit Meier, the global managing director of Red Bull Media House, the media and content arm of the energy drinks brand, is to leave the company, according to reports in Austria.
The departure of the 49-year-old, who is also chief executive of Red Bull Media Network, has been attributed internally to “personal reasons”, according to Der Standard.
Meier joined the Salzburg-based company in November 2016.
It is claimed that Meier’s exit comes amidst a “realignment” of Red Bull Media House to refocus efforts on “Red Bull marketing”. Servus TV, the Red Bull-owned free-to-air television network in Austria, last year took back responsibility for its advertising sales from Red Bull Media House.
Gerhard Riedler, former global head of media sales at Red Bull Media House, left the company toward the end of last year.
Red Bull Media House has refrained from commenting on reports of Meier’s exit.
Red Bull Media House is responsible for the international distribution of the Red Bull Content Pool, a mixture of live events and back-catalogue content that is mainly focused on action sports.
The events and programming distributed include Red Bull X-Fighters, Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series, Red Bull Ice Cross World Championship, Drift Masters, World Enduro Super Series, Red Bull King of the Air, Crankworx, Red Bull Rampage and Red Bull Soapbox.
Along with the Red Bull TV content, the Red Bull Media Network also houses Red Bull Games, Red Bull Films, Red Bull Records, Red Bull Songs and other owned-and-operated digital platforms.
Meier was recruited by Red Bull after a short spell as a senior strategic advisor at CBS Corporation, the New York-based media conglomerate. He served as World Wrestling Entertainment’s president, international between 2013 and 2016. He also counts Spotify, the music streaming service, among his previous employers.