Ananda Krishnan‚ a publicity-shy Malaysian business titan passed away at 86 (his private investment firm didnt share death details)
The self-made billionaire started small: first with business advice then oil-trading and later gambling operations; his real success came when he jumped into multi-media stuff back in the 90s. Known as AK he built quite a collection of big companies:
- Maxis - Malaysias biggest phone company
- Astro Malaysia - satellite TV giant
- Bumi Armada - oil services business
- Foreign holdings in India and Sri Lanka
His early life was interesting - born to a Sri Lankan dad who moved to British-era Malaya; he got super-smart with a Melbourne degree and Harvard business diploma (about 60 years back). The guy made history when he backed that huge Live Aid concert with Bob Geldof almost four decades ago
Being close to ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad‚ he pushed the idea for those famous twin towers in KL; thats how Malaysia got its cool 88-floor landmark. Forbes said he was worth $5.1 billion making him number 6 on Malaysias rich list
Some drama showed up when India filed charges about that Maxis-Aircel deal (like 10 years ago) but Maxis said its all wrong. The case is still going. Even though he married a Thai princess this quiet money-man spent his last years chillin in Europe; always giving cash to good causes like schools arts and sports