He
already owns Asia's biggest budget airline and Team Lotus of Formula One -- now
Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes has spread his wings even wider by securing a
majority stake in Premiership newcomers Queens Park Rangers.
The chief of fast-growing AirAsia will no doubt be gunning
for a high finish for the West London club, a tall task for a team that was
only just promoted back to the English Premier League this season after 15
years.
But Fernandes, a flamboyant spirit in Asia's staid business
world who favours blue jeans and caps over power suits, is making a habit of
defying the naysayers.
Fernandes, who is of Indian-Portuguese descent and married
with two children, struck a deal with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone on Thursday for
a 66-percent share of QPR. Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal is the other
major shareholder.
The move came after an earlier bid for West Ham United was
rebuffed -- Fernandes spent much of his youth studying in England and playing
schoolboy rugby, and has long been a fan of the Hammers.
An accountant by training but also an accomplished pianist
and amateur guitarist, Fernandes was a Virgin Records accountant and later a
Warner music executive until he decided to act on his dream of running an
airline.
He took over loss-making AirAsia in late 2001, shortly after
the September 11 attacks in the United States sent the global aviation industry
into a tailspin, and was given little chance of succeeding.
Fernandes, now 47, bought the airline, its two aircraft, and
40 million ringgit ($13.4 million) in debt for the token sum of one ringgit,
mortgaging his house to pour money into the carrier.
But with his motto "Now everyone can fly", he has
turned it into a growing force in the aviation industry, with profits mounting
and its route system expanding worldwide.
It is now Asia's largest low-cost carrier by fleet size and
flies to 78 destinations, while its long-haul budget arm AirAsia X -- launched
in 2007 -- covers another 11 including London.
In a sign of the airline's growing clout, loss-making
national carrier Malaysian Airlines (MAS) -- once a fierce rival of AirAsia --
this month brought Fernandes into a surprise share swap and strategic
partnership in a bid to spur an AirAsia-style turnaround at MAS.
With millions of diehard Premiership football fans across
Asia, Fernandes's investment in QPR will help promote the AirAsia brand in the
booming region and in Europe where he is keen to expand his foothold.
But the deal has led some to question whether Fernandes is
over-reaching.
"It would appear that he is spreading himself too thin
with these non-aviation related ventures," Shukor Yusof, an aviation
analyst with Standard & Poor's Equities Research, told AFP.
But he added that Fernandes was probably keen to diversify
his wealth from too heavy a reliance on the volatile airline industry.
"I don't quite understand why he's going after QPR, but
Tony is a canny guy and there's method in his madness," Shukor said.
Fernandes shrugged off the doubters last year to establish
his Formula One team -- although the venture has been dogged thus far by a
dispute with carmaker Group Lotus over naming rights.
"It's good when people laugh at you because they don't
take you seriously," he told AFP in 2010 amid jibes over his rookie team.
People familiar with Fernandes's personal wealth estimate it
to be $500 million, based on the recent increase in the share price of AirAsia.
But the ebullient mogul, who was honoured by Forbes as the
2010 "Asia Businessman of the Year", is easily his country's -- and
one of Asia's -- most visible entrepreneurs, carving out an image that has seen
him frequently compared to colourful Virgin Group chairman Richard Branson.
The two men are friends -- Branson also owns a stake in
AirAsia X -- and share a similar sense of humour.
Fernandes won a bet with Branson at the 2010 Bahrain Formula
One GP, with the loser obliged to dress as a stewardess aboard an AirAsia X
flight. Branson is yet to carry out the stunt.
Source : AFP
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