Dato’Sri Anthony Francis Fernandes (also known as Tony Fernandes) is a Malaysian Entrepreneur and the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd. , who introduced the first budget no-frills airline, AirAsia, to Malaysians with the tagline “Now everyone can fly”. 30 April 1964 1977 ~ 1983 1987 1987 ~ 1989 1989 ~ 1991 Born in Kuala Lumpur Educated at Epsom College (London) Graduated from the London School of Economics Work as Finance Controller in London Became the youngest-ever Managing Director of Warner Music (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Became the South East Asian regional vice president for Warner Music Group Meet up with the Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to pursue his dream of starting a budget no-frills airline 1992 ~ 2001 October 2001 AirAsia, the heavily-indebted subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned conglomerate company, was losing money speedily. Instead of starting from scratch, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad advised Fernandes to buy an existing airline instead. Fernandes mortgaged his home and sank his savings to acquire the company, comprising two ageing Boeing 737-300 jets (9M-AAA and 9M-AAB) and USD$11 million (RM40 million) worth of debts, for 26 US cents (one ringgit), and transformed it into an industry player.
Yet, just one year after his takeover, AirAsia had broken even and cleared all its debts. Its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2004 was oversubscribed by 130 per cent. Tune Hotels. com In 2007, Tony Fernandes has again created a “first” in Asia by starting a hotel chain, Tune Hotels which is based on the no-frills concept. The first Tune Hotel was opened at the intersection of Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.
Expansions are in the works as more hotels will be opened up throughout Malaysia. Another new Tune Hotel will be opening soon in Danga Bay, Johor Bahru. ABL (Asian Basketball League) As of 2009, Fernandes is also the president of the ABL (Asian Basketball League). Fernandes has stated that it has always been a dream of his to be able to be involved with the development of sports in the ASEAN region Lotus F1 – 1 Malaysia F1 Team.
Fernandes is the team principal of the new Lotus F1 Racing, which has been granted entry into the 2010 Formala One season. Fernandes was clear that if and when the team were to win it would not be Lotus Racing’s first but Lotus’ 80th victory West Ham United / Norwich City Fernandes is a fan of English Premier League — West Ham United Football Club and has been involved in talks concerning a takeover of the club. He is rumoured to be meeting directors of League One Norwich City regarding investment.
