Ananda Krishnan, Tatparanandam Ananda, or AK as he is often simply referred to as, was born in Brickfields Kuala Lumpur in what was then British Malaya to Tamil Parents who originated from Sri Lanka. After starting his education in his home city, AK went to the University of Melbourne where he got a BA Honours in political science, before going to Harvard Business School and receiving a Masters in business administration.

His first foray into business was with MAI Holdings, a consultancy firm, before founding Exoil Trading. Later he began a gambling business, and then in the late 1980’s and early ‘90’s he moved into media.
AK’s current business interests include Astro Malaysia Holdings, Bumi Armada, Maxis, Sri Lankan Telecom and Powertek. He splits his time between Malaysia and France.