Malaysian business tycoon Ananda Krishnan dies

Kuala Lumpur (Reuters) – Malaysian billionaire business tycoon Ananda Krishnan, whose interests ranged from oil and gas to telecommunications, has died at 86, his private investment company said.

No cause of death was given.The tycoon shunned publicity but became internationally known in the mid-1980s when he helped finance the Live Aid concert organized by rock star Bob Geldof.

As a young entrepreneur, he first set up a business consultancy before venturing into oil trading and then the gambling sector. In the 1990s, he diversified into multimedia ventures.

Widely known by the nickname AK, he had stakes in companies as diverse as Malaysia’s largest telecommunications operator Maxis, satellite broadcaster Astro Malaysia and oilield services provider Bumi Armada.

He also owned holdings in India’s Aircel and Sri Lanka’s SLT Mobitel.

Ananda was a founding director of state oil firm Petronas and was close to Mahathir Mohamad, selling the former prime minister the idea of building the iconic 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers in the early 1990s.

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