Rockstar Energy Founder Wants to Take Over Struggling Celsius

The billionaire who created the Rockstar Energy drink brand wants to shake up one of its biggest rivals. Russ Savage now owns more than 12 million shares of Celsius Holdings — the popular energy drink company — and he's calling for its top bosses to be fired.

Savage sold Rockstar to PepsiCo in 2020 for over $4 billion. Now he's turned his attention to Celsius, buying up a big chunk of the company (called a stake, meaning part-ownership through shares).

Here are the key numbers:

• Savage controls 12 million+ shares, about 4.7% of the company
• That stake is worth roughly $300 million
• Celsius stock plunged 18% after weak earnings
• The stock now trades around $27 per share

The drop came after Celsius reported disappointing earnings (how much profit a company makes). The company earned 36 cents per share when Wall Street analysts expected 43 cents. Revenue (total money brought in from sales) was $817.9 million — below the $870 million experts predicted.

Celsius CEO John Fieldly blamed the shortfall on cutting back some products to make room for new ones. The company also recently bought two other brands: Alani Nu ($1.8 billion) and the U.S./Canada rights to Rockstar itself.

Savage is furious. He says Celsius has too many managers, too many costs, and nobody taking responsibility. His biggest worry is that Celsius is losing shelf space — the spots stores give products on their shelves. In the cutthroat energy drink world, losing shelf space to rivals like Red Bull or Monster can be deadly.

"Once you lose shelf space, you're dead," Savage said. He's now publicly volunteering to become CEO himself, arguing the current leader has lost the trust of investors.

Savage started buying his latest shares back in March when the price dipped, betting the stock was undervalued (cheaper than it should be) and would recover. Instead, it kept falling — which he blames on management mistakes.

The bottom line: A famous drink industry founder is publicly attacking a rival's leadership and offering to take charge — a rare and dramatic move that sent Celsius shares jumping on Friday.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/07/rockstar-energy-founder-celsius-stake-ceo.html