A symbol of Malaysia’s development is the Petronas Twin Towers, not so long ago the tallest building in the world. While it was a project that launched T Ananda Krishnan’s name into prominence, it is his telecommunications and pay TV businesses that have had a bigger impact on the lives of Malaysians.

Recounting Malaysia’s transformation from a British colony to an advanced developing nation would be incomplete without mentioning the Petronas Twin Towers and the elusive billionaire who played a significant role in the genesis of both the national oil company and the 88-storey icon that redefined Kuala Lumpur’s skyline.

Ananda Krishnan Tatparanandam, 73, son of a civil service clerk of Sri Lankan Tamil origin, operates through a string of private vehicles, the most prominent being Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd.

Believed to have made his first million in the late 1970s from oil-related corporate deals abroad, the Harvard University MBA holder was already active in the London oil market before the setting up of Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) in August 1974. Among a handful of lesser-known minds behind its inception, Ananda had suggested to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that an entity be set up to get older fields which oil major Shell had relinquished. He served briefly on Petronas’ board between 1984 and 1986, about the same time he was a low-key director of Bank Negara Malaysia (1982 to 1987).

But it was the multi-billion ringgit development of the 39ha of prime land in the heart of Kuala Lumpur that was the Selangor Turf Club, now known as the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, that launched Ananda’s name to prominence in 1991.

“Few Asian godfathers play politics so well,” Joe Studwell, author of Asian Godfathers wrote of Ananda. “He went to the Argentinian-American architect Cesar Pelli with a remit that Tun Mahathir Mohamed would find irresistible — the tallest building in the world, commensurate with the premier’s Vision 2020 to make Malaysia a developed nation by that year, with a design that incorporates elements of Islamic architecture.”

Ananda’s hand in the deal is mirrored, perhaps, by shorter third tower next to the Twin Towers, where Usaha Tegas and his flagship mobile operator Maxis are headquartered. Also making headlines was how deftly the gargantuan real estate deal was engineered, such that 48% of the RM1.3 billion development went to Ananda without him having to use his own money.

Project financing was also how he put Malaysia’s first satellite, Measat 1, into orbit in 1996. Then there’s his controlling interest in Astro All Asia Networks plc, the dominant satellite direct-to-home pay TV provider present in half of Malaysia’s six million households.

Today, businesses under his Usaha Tegas group span property development, leisure and entertainment, energy (power generation and oil and gas), satellites, telecommunications, broadcast and media. There were some misses in recent years, most notable being his falling out with former partner, Indonesia’s Riady family.

Interestingly, the media business is something Ananda has been in as far back as his days at the Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur. The directors on Usaha Tegas’ board today include Khoo Teng Bin, 77, a secondary school contemporary who was on the editorial team with Ananda in 1954 for The Seladang, a school periodical.

Ananda evidently thought “out of the box” even during high school days, said fellow Victorian, Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam, Sunway Group corporate advisor and past president of Transparency International Malaysia.

Others in Ananda’s inner circle include point-man Augustus Ralph Marshall, 60, and Chan Chee Beng, 56, who joined Usaha Tegas as head of corporate finance in 1992.

Ananda’s “unrelentless pursuit of excellence”, is what Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim — who helmed Maxis for 10 years before becoming Axiata Group Bhd president and CEO in 2008 — finds most striking about the man. “He employs the best people. That’s why he will continue to be successful,” Jamaludin told The Edge Financial Daily.

One of Ananda’s prized assets, Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd — the Big Sweep lottery operation Usaha Tegas bought in September 1988 — is about to be sold to a consortium of Malaysian Chinese businessman including Genting Bhd chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Hong Leong financial group chairman Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, Lion group chairman Tan Sri William Cheng, businessman Tan Sri Chua Ma Yu and Hap Seng group’s Tan Sri Lau Cho Kun — reportedly to fund Jana Pendidikan Malaysia, a trust which will channel profit to back under-funded Chinese and Tamil schools in the country.

Ananda is said to be looking to dispose of the gaming business to concentrate on expanding business ties in the Middle East. According to a recent Singapore Straits Times report, he plans to commit RM100 million to a trust fund set up to fund vernacular schools.

To be sure, like much of his business dealings, a lot of his philanthropy is done under the radar — a trait found in many so-called “Asian godfathers”.

Much of Usaha Tegas has been run by professionals for years, said a source familiar with the group, when asked about the succession. The group, he said, could continue to run the same way for years to come, just as great corporations are meant to outlive their founders and leaders, however great they were. More important is the foundation upon which the group has been built.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, August 26, 2011.