Malaysian media mogul turned 86
Malaysian media, telecoms and oil tycoon Ananda Krishnan has died at the age of 86, his companies said on Thursday. No cause of death was announced.
Krishnan founded Malaysia’s second-largest mobile operator Maxis Bhd and the dominant broadcasting and media company Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd.
He also had a substantial stake in oilfield services company Bumi Armada Bhd through Objektif Bersatu and investment company Usaha Tegas.
Earlier this year, Forbes calculated that his net worth was around $5 billion, making him the third richest person in the country. He is survived by two daughters and a son, who has recently attracted a lot of media attention for becoming a Buddhist monk and losing a huge fortune.
“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our Chairman, T. Ananda Krishnan, who passed away peacefully on November 28.
“He has made significant contributions to nation building and business, and his philanthropic initiatives have touched many lives. We humbly ask that the family’s wishes to mourn privately be respected,” Usaha Tegas said in a statement.
Krishnan was born into a middle-class family in Brickfields and studied at Harvard Business School. He made a fortune in oil and then another fortune in gambling before expanding into media and telecoms. His interests include regional pay-TV giant Astro in Southeast Asia; Malaysia’s largest telephone operator, Maxis; satellite operator MEASAT; British newspaper group Johnston Press; Malaysia’s second largest cinema chain, TGV; and Celestial Pictures, the company built on the Shaw Brothers Film Library that also has a stake in the bouquet of CTE channels.
Krishnan was on the list in both 2017 and 2018 Variety‘s list of the 500 most powerful media types. Despite his wealth and influence, he was known to studiously avoid personal publicity and media attention.
He also owned Aircel, a now bankrupt telephone company that once sponsored the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Chennai Super Kings.
