Entrepreneur that I admire…..

Now everyone can fly is a tagline for AirAsia. Dato’ Anthony Francis Fernandes was the director of AirAsia, he was born in 1964 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.
He rose to prominence by turning AirAsia, a fledging government-linked commercial airline, into a highly successful public-listed company. Dato’ Fernandes was also instrumental in lobbying the then-Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in mid-2003, to propose the idea of open skies agreements with neighbourhod Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. As a result, these nations have granted landing rights to AirAsia and other discount carriers.
Born in Kuala Lumpur, Dato’ Fernandes is part Goan and part Malacca Portuguese, is the son of the late Stephen Edward Fernandes, and Ena Dorothy Fernandez. When he was young, he used to follow his mother, a businesswoman, to Tupperware dealer parties and conventions.
He was educated at Epsom College 1977-83 and then graduated from the London School of Economics in 1987. He worked very briefly with Virgin Atlantic as an auditor, subsequently becoming the financial controller for Richard Branson’s Virgin Records in London from 1987 to 1989.
Tony was admitted as Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1991 and became Fellow Member in 1996.
Upon his return to Malaysia, he became the youngest-ever managing director of Warner Music (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Though an accountant, Dato’ Fernandes is an amateur guitarist and also has achieved grade 8 piano which is where his musical inclination lies.