Entrepreneur. He transformed an obscure German drink called Jägermeister into an international top-selling liquor. He also pioneered soccer (football) jersey sponsorship in Germany. After completing military service, Mast studied economics and then worked in the finance department of his hometown newspaper, the “Braunschweiger Zeitung”. In 1952 he joined the firm of his uncle, Curt Mast, who had introduced the herbal liqueur Jägermeister as a warming agent for winter hunters in 1935. His innovative advertising for this product used the local soccer team, Eintracht Braunschweig. He convinced the management of the team to change the team’s logo to the Jägermeister logo (stag antlers with a cross), adding the initials E. B. for the team, and enlarged it, so that it acted as an advertisement on the team jerseys. Although the German Football League opposed this controversial move, they had no rule against a changed logo. Other clubs planned to follow suit, so the league had no choice but to allow advertising on jerseys, and it rapidly became common practice throughout Europe. This was followed by another very successful advertising campaign based on the phrase “I drink Jägermeister because …” which targeted younger consumers and helped popularize the drink in the United States. As of 2010, over 80 million bottles were being sold annually in over 80 countries worldwide. Like his uncle, Mast was a passionate hunter. He spent much of his time on his farm in Bavaria, where he became a lumber baron in later life, and also on his estate near Celle in Lower Saxony. From 1987 until his retirement in 1997 he was chairman of the Mast-Jägermeister SE company. He died of complications from a stroke. (bio by: Fred Beisser)