Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan (Tamil: த. ஆனந்தகிருஷ்ணன்) (born 1 April 1938) is a Malaysian-Tamil entrepreneur, the Chairman of Usaha Tegas Sdn. Bhd.[1] and founder of Yu Cai Foundation (YCF).[2] Nicknamed A.K., currently[update] he is estimated to have a net worth of US$5.8 billion[3] according to Forbes' latest annual list of wealthiest people, making him the third-wealthiest in Malaysia.[4]
Ananda Krishnan shuns public exposure[5] and is known to maintain a low profile for a person of his stature.
Krishnan is a follower of Buddhism and has three children, two daughters and a son. His only son, Ven Ajahn Siripanyo is a Theravada Buddhist monk.[7][8]
Entrepreneurship
Krishnan's first entrepreneurial venture was a Malaysian consultancy MAI Holdings Sdn Bhd. He set up Exoil Trading, which went on to purchase oil drilling concessions in various countries. Later, he moved into gambling (in Malaysia). In the early part of the 1990s, he started diversifying into the multimedia arena.
Krishnan first came to prominence by helping to organise the Live Aid concert with Bob Geldof in the mid-1980s. In the early 1990s, he began building a multimedia empire that now includes two telecommunication companies—Maxis Communications, MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems and SES World Skies—and has three communication satellites circumnavigating the Earth.
In an agreement between Astro and India's Sun Network, Krishnan plans to produce TV channels which cater to the Indian market, especially Tamil people in countries such as US, Western Europe and the Middle East. He also plans to offer TV services featuring Web-based interactivity. Ananda Krishnan owns stakes in TVB.com and the Shaw Brothers movie archives.
Philanthropy
Ananda Krishnan donates to education, the arts, sports and humanitarian causes in Malaysia through his company Usaha Tegas, and its subsidiaries.[9]
In 2003 Krishnan's Usaha Tegas launched the Harapan Nusantara education fund. Since 2004 the fund has sponsored 100 students a year to attend special programs at local private universities that collaborate with foreign universities.[10] In the same year the company also started the Yu Cai Education Foundation with a grant of $6.6 million to help ethnic Chinese groups.[11]
In 2006 Ananda Krishnan's media company Astro introduced its scholarship program, promising to devote an annual RM2 million to support promising Malaysian undergraduate and graduate students studying media and broadcasting.[12]
In 2008 he contributed to the opening of the Montfort Girls Centre to help orphaned and underprivileged girls develop their vocational skills.[13]
In 2010 Krishnan was featured on the Forbes list of 48 Heroes of Philanthropy.[14]
In January 2015 Ananda Krishnan and the Usaha Tegas Group launched the Yu Cai Foundation (YCF).[15] YCF provides student scholarships for Mandarin-based schools and grants to educational institutions which promote the study of vernacular languages, especially Mandarin and English.[16]