Ananda Krishnan - Malaysia's Richest Man

He hates public exposure and maintains a very low profile. However, his hugely successful business activities always thrust him into the lime light. For the sixty four year old Tatparanandam, it is difficult to remain anonymous, when Malaysian Business Magazine has ranked him as the richest man in Malaysia. Still very little is known about this ethnic Indian who has settled in Malaysia.

Ananda Krishnan studied in Vivekananda Tamil School in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Later, he attended the University of Melbourne for B.A. (Honours) degree. After that Krishnan attended the Harvard University for a Masters in Business Administration in 1964. After his masters, Ananda Krishnan’s first entrepreneurial venture is into oil trading. Later he moved into gambling (in Malaysia), stud farming (in Australia) and running a Hollywood cartoon studio.

Soon, he diversified into a host of other business opportunities. In the early part of the 1990s, he started diversifying, in a big way, into multimedia arena. Currently, he has business interests in entertainment, space, oil, power, shipping, telecommunications, property and gaming.

His companies operate in a most parts of the South East Asia. At present Forbes magazine reckons his net worth to be about 1.3 billion dollars.

A quarter of his wealth comes from the gambling business (lottery, horse-racing wagering). Although he may not be known for his business activities, most Malaysians relate him to Petronas Twin Towers, world’s tallest buildings. For them, he is man who built the twin towers and made them famous globally.

Besides building the world’s tallest buildings, Krishnan has done many other awesome things. Krishnan’s telecommunications companies – Maxis Communications and MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems - has two communication satellites circumnavigating the earth. Maxis Communications Bhd, Malaysia’s biggest cellular phone company, has more than 2 million subscribers. It has cornering more than 30% market share in Malaysia.

MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd offers direct to home 30 television channels and 16 radio channels in digital format. His communications company is placing a lot of emphasis to enable betting through a mobile phone. Besides beaming entertainment programs through the satellite, Krishnan also has a string of multiplex theaters in Malaysia and offers movies on the bigger screen. Krishnan’s entertainment company holds more than 800 movie titles. His company is planning to launch a Mandarin Language movie channel. Krishnan has an investment vehicle - Usaha Tegas Entertainment Systems Sdn Bhd – through which he routes his investments. Krishnan is a close friend of Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.