Felix Baumgartner

Felix Baumgartner (born 20 April 1969) is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil and BASE jumper. He set the world record for skydiving an estimated 39 kilometres (24 mi), reaching an estimated speed of 1,342 kilometres per hour (834 mph), or Mach 1.24, on 14 October 2012, and became the first person to break the sound barrier without vehicular power on his descent. He is also renowned for the particularly dangerous nature of the stunts he has performed during his career. Baumgartner spent time in the Austrian military where he practised parachute jumping, including training to land on small target zones.

Baumgartner's most recent project was Red Bull Stratos, in which he jumped to Earth from a helium balloon in the stratosphere on 14 October 2012. As part of this project, he set the altitude record for a manned balloon flight, parachute jump from the highest altitude, and greatest free fall velocity.

Biogrpahy

Felix Baumgartner was born, on 20 April 1969, in Salzburg, Austria.[8] When he was a little boy, he dreamed about flying and skydiving. In 1999 he claimed the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he jumped from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On 25 July 2003, Baumgartner became the first person to skydive across the English Channel using a specially made carbon fiber wing. Alban Geissler, who developed the SKYRAY carbon fiber wing with Christoph Aarns, suggested after Baumgartner's jump that the wing he used was a copy of two prototype SKYRAY wings sold to Red Bull (Baumgartner's sponsor) two years earlier.

 

Baumgartner also set the world record for the lowest BASE jump ever, when he jumped 29 metres (95 ft) from the hand of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro. This jump also stirred controversy among BASE jumpers who pointed out that Baumgartner cited the height of the statue as the height of the jump even though he landed on a slope below the statue's feet, and that other BASE jumpers had previously jumped from the statue but avoided publicity.

He became the first person to BASE jump from the completed Millau Viaduct in France on 27 June 2004 and the first person to skydive onto, then BASE jump from, the Turning Torso building in Malmö, Sweden on 18 August 2006. On 12 December 2007 he became the first person to jump from the 91st floor observation deck of the then-tallest completed building in the world, Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan.

From: www.wikipedia.org

Werner Faymann

Werner Faymann (born May 4, 1960) is Chancellor of Austria and chairman of the Social Democratic Party SPÖ .

Background and Earlier Career

Born in Vienna, Austria, he studied law at the University of Vienna for two years but did not graduate.

From 1985 to 1988 Faymann was a consultant at the Zentralsparkasse Bank (now Bank Austria), which he left to become director and provincial chairman of the Viennese Tenants' counselling. He was also provincial chairman of Socialist Youth Vienna (Sozialistische Jugend Wien) from 1985 until 1994 when he became a member of the Viennese state parliament and municipal council; where he held various positions concerning housing construction and urban renewal.

Faymann was Federal Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology in the Cabinet of Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer. On 16 June 2008 Faymann replaced Gusenbauer as chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) and led his party in the snap legislative elections, held on 28 September 2008. The election was famously preceded by Faymann and Gusenbauer together announcing a shift in the party´s position towards the signing of new EU treaties, which they did by writing an open letter to Hans Dichand, the editor of the yellow press medium Kronenzeitung, the largest newspaper in the country. This caused a scandal within the party because the shift was not decided by any party gremium, and lead the pro-EU People´s Party (ÖVP) to end the existing coalition, thus causing the elections. Faymann was known for his good relationship with the now-deceased Dichand, who would also support him in the following election campaign. Although the SPÖ lost 11 seats, and had a 6% swing against it (in fact, their worst result since the Second World War) they came ahead their main rivals Austrian People's Party in both seats (57 to 51), and share of the vote (29.26% to 25.98%). Afterwards, Faymann renewed the coalition with the People´s Party, as he had announced before the election.

Faymann is married and has two children.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Heinz Fischer

Heinz Fischer GColIH (born 9 October 1938) is the President of Austria. He took office on 8 July 2004 and was re-elected for a second and last term on 25 April 2010. Fischer previously served as Minister of Science from 1983 to 1987 and as President of the National Council of Austria from 1990 to 2002. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ), he suspended his party membership for the duration of his Presidency.

Early Life

Born in Graz, Styria, Fischer attended the Gymnasium, focusing on humanities, and taking his Matura exams in 1956. He studied law at the University of Vienna, earning a doctorate in 1961. In 1963 at the age of 25, Fischer, spent a year volunteering at Kibbutz Sarid, northern Israel. Apart from being a politician, Fischer also pursued an academic career, and became a Professor of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck in 1993.

Personal Life

Fischer is an agnostic. Fischer has been married since 1968. The couple has two grown children. Fischer enjoys mountaineering and has been president of the Austrian Friends of Nature for many years.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Dietrich Mateschitz

Dietrich Mateschitz (born 20 May 1944) is an Austrian businessman who co-founded the Red Bull energy drink company and holds 49 percent of the company's shares. Mateschitz's net worth is estimated to be US$5 billion.

Biography

Mateschitz was born in Sankt Marein im Mürztal, Styria, Austria to a family of Croatian ancestry. His parents were both primary school teachers and separated when he was very young. Although never married, he has a son. He holds a pilot's licence and enjoys flying a Falcon 900 and a Piper Super Cub. Forbes estimated Mateschitz's net worth to be US$5 billion in 2011.

After taking ten years to graduate from the Hochschule für Welthandel (now Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration) with a marketing degree, Mateschitz's first employer was Unilever, where he worked marketing detergents. He subsequently moved to Blendax, the German cosmetics company since bought by Procter & Gamble, where he worked on, among other things, the marketing of Blendax toothpaste. It was as part of his travels for Blendax that he discovered Krating Daeng, the drink that would later become Red Bull. In 1984, he founded Red Bull GmbH with his Thai partners Chaleo and Chalerm Yoovidhya with the launch in Austria in 1987. Subsequently, he turned the Red Bull drink into a world market leader among energy drinks.

He lives in Salzburg, Austria but also owns Laucala Island, off Fiji, which he bought from the Forbes family for £7 million.

From : www.wikipedia.org