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Top 10 Astonishing Facts about Tony Fernandes

Tony Fernandes is a famous Malaysian entrepreneur that is well known for being the founder of Tune Air which is an airline that offers affordable flights for passengers. His business prowess has made him a household name and one of the well-liked in the country.

Therefore, this article will look at ten amazing facts about the entrepreneur to give the reader a deeper insight into his trade secrets and what made him succeed. The article will also be a source of motivation for people who want to take a step forward as they can read about how Fernandes was able to do it and thus emulate him.

1 He bought the airline for 26 cents

In the late 90s, Tony Fernandes was looking for new opportunities to invest in. Having always entertained the idea of owning an airline, he decided to take a risk and try to turn his dream into a reality. He approached the Malaysian government and shared with them his plans and he was given the go-ahead.

However, there was a catch as he had to buy an existing airline. He could not have picked a more ideal time in that at that time, Air Asia which is a subsidiary of DRB-Hicom which is a government-owned conglomerate was losing a lot of money. It had a debt of around $11 million. Tony Fernandes sold his home and bought the company for about 26 US cents

2 He made profits within a year of purchasing the airline

After selling his house to buy the airline, he embarked on revolutionising the company’s business strategy and within a year, the airline was breaking even. This is a spectacular turnabout as some months before the company was swimming in debt. The company started with two planes as Tony Fernandes purchased it but it has steadily grown and it now has an impressive fleet.

3 He is among the richest men in Asia

Forbes listed Tony Fernandes as the 28^th richest man in Asia in a 2014 issue. During that time, his net worth was $650 million. However, this figure dropped because of the Covid-19 pandemic that saw planes being grounded and this meant that his source of income was not flowing. However, it does not mean that his finances are in trouble it is quite the opposite. In another calculation done by Forbes, it was estimated that he was worth $335 million and this made him the 41^st richest man in Malaysia.

4 Awards

Over the past few decades, Tony Fernandes has been honoured on different occasions with awards to celebrate his achievements. In 2003, he received the International Herald Tribune Award for the “Visionaries & Leadership Series,” as well as the American Express and Business Times titles of “Malaysian CEO of the Year 2003.” He was named one of Business Week’s “25 Stars of Asia” in 2005, and Ernst & Young named him “Entrepreneur of the Year 2006” the following year.

Furthermore, Fast Company named him one of the Top 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2011. He was named “Brand Builder of the Year” at the World Branding Awards in 2014.

5 He is a lobbyist

Tony Fernandes was instrumental in lobbying Tun Dr Mahatir who was the then Pre Minister of Malaysia on the idea of opening open skies agreement with neighbouring countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. This resulted in the nations granting landing rights to Air Asia and other discount carriers. This was a positive result as it meant they had expanded their customer base by going to those countries and that translated to higher profits.

6 He owns a football club

Fernandez is a very proud and ardent supporter of the English football club West Ham. So it’s a little intriguing to learn that he owns a majority stake in his rival club, Queens Park Rangers. Fernandez said he bought the club in 2011 and at the time said, “QPR is a diamond in the rough and hopefully I can help turn it into a diamond.”

He attempted to take over West Ham, but owners David Sullivan and David Gold objected. Sullivan later claimed that Fernandez’s offer simply did not meet the requirements. “He wanted 51% of the club for two bobs,” he said. It was an accusation that Fernandez vehemently denied.

7 He worked in the music industry

After graduating from the London School of Economics, the entrepreneur worked as an auditor for Virgin Atlantic for several years. He then went on to work as the financial controller for Virgin Records. Before acquiring the airline, Tony Fernandes served in the capacity of a managing director for the Warner Music Malaysian division as well as the South East Asian regional vice president for the warner music group.

8 He felt the impact of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on businesses and individuals as it was not business as usual with many facilities closed when quarantine was enforced. Tony Fernandes also felt the impact of the pandemic in that the outbreak of the virus had a devastating impact on airlines and even forced him to cut back on costs. It was even reported that the entrepreneur put up his sprawling mansion located in Scotland as a result of the pandemic.

9 He has been married twice

In 1994, Fernandez married Deborah Lee Bergstrom. The couple has a daughter, Stephanie, and a son, Stephen. They later divorced, but Fernandez found love again with a South Korean actress named Chloe. The couple started her two-year relationship at the hotel Her Cap Her Estel in Eze on the French Riviera. Later we got married in 2017.

10 He believes great people are the secret to success

While talking to cnbc.com the entrepreneur revealed that he believed a businessperson’s greatest asset is finding good people. This is because the employees will work hard towards achieving the goals of the organisation and thus result in high productivity which translates to good profits.