8. T. ANANDA KRISHNAN Flagship: Maxis, Astro Net worth: RM12.77bil

T ANANDA Krishnan, or AK as people refer him to, was the biggest loser in the top-10 richest Malaysians last year. He lost RM7.6bil in one year, which was a decline of 37% in his net worth. That amount alone would have placed anyone in the 11th spot on the top-40 list.

It is an understatement to say that AK had a very bad year, but his mainstays on Bursa Malaysia performed on varying degrees. Maxis Bhd, Malaysia’s leading cellular company, had a stable year. Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s share price succumbed to a declining subscriber base and Bumi Armada Bhd saw a big plunge in its value on concerns over its mountain of debt and the ongoing resolution with its bondholders.

What AK has going in Maxis and Astro are their market-leading positions, but there is a need to redefine their business models, as all three key companies, including Bumi Armada, are facing regulatory challenges and tough market conditions.

As a result of the confluence of factors, the market capitalisation of Maxis, Astro and Bumi Armada fell to RM49.5bil at the end of last year from RM65.2bil at the end of 2017, a drop of 24%. One failure of AK in recent years has been the failed diversification of Malaysian businesses into overseas markets.

The souring of a relationship with the Lippo Group from Indonesia meant that it could not successfully venture into the property business in Singapore through Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd in 2006. AK’s Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd was bought out by Lippo in 2010 for the Indonesian company to take full control of the Singaporean developer.

The other bitter pill with Lippo was the venture in the Indonesian cable TV business and it has been suggested that the fallout between AK and Riady of the Lippo group was the sale of a controlling block in Natrindo to Saudi Telecom after just two months from buying Lippo’s 44% stake in the Indonesian telco.

AK was also beset with a huge loss from the failed telco investment in Aircel Ltd in India which has filed for bankruptcy due to the cutthroat business in India. The one bit of good news for AK last year was the sale of the indoor Tropical Islands Resort to a company from Spain for RM1.07bil. The resort was developed and opened for business in 2004 at a cost of RM600mil.

Another setback for AK was the departure of key employees Ralph Marshall and Datuk Rohana Rozhan. Both had been long-term lieutenants for AK in his business empire.