Tony Fernandes

Tan Sri Anthony Francis "Tony" Fernandes, CBE (born 30 April 1964) is a Malaysian-British entrepreneur. He is 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". Fernandes managed to turn AirAsia, a failing government-linked commercial airline, into a highly successful budget airline public-listed company. He has since founded the Tune Group of companies.

He 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 neighbouring Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. As a result, these nations have granted landing rights to AirAsia and other discount carriers.

As of February 2013, Forbes Asia valued Fernandes' net worth at $625 million, ranking him at number 21 on the Forbes list of Malaysia's Richest.

It was through Datuk Pahamin A. Rejab, the former secretary-general of the Malaysian Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry that Fernandes came to meet with then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in October 2001.

Instead of starting from scratch, Mahathir advised Fernandes to buy an existing airline. AirAsia, the heavily indebted subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned conglomerate, DRB-Hicom, was losing money. Fernandes mortgaged his home and used his personal savings to acquire the company, comprising two Boeing 737-300 jet aircraft and debts of US$11 million (RM40 million), for one ringgit (about 26 US cents), and transformed it into an industry player. 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.

Fernandes says his timing was in fact perfect: after 11 September 2001, aircraft leasing costs fell 40%. Also, airline lay-offs meant experienced staff were readily available. He believed Malaysian travellers would embrace a cut-rate air service that would save them time and money, especially in a tight economy. Fernandes estimates about 50 per cent of the travellers on Asia’s budget airlines are first-time flyers. Before the advent of AirAsia, he estimated that only six per cent of Malaysians had ever travelled by air.

In addition, Fernandes started a hotel chain in 2007, Tune Hotels, based on the no-frills concept. It has properties in Britain, Australia and the Far East. As of 2009, Fernandes is also the president of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). As of 2013, Fernandes is also involved in a reality TV series: The Apprentice Asia is an Asian reality game show in which a group of aspiring young businessmen and women compete for the chance to work with Fernandes, who also serves as the host of the show. In March 2012, Tony Fernandes Served on the International Advisory Board of Global March to Jerusalem, which aims to "mobilize the international community in solidarity with Palestinians and to protect Jerusalem." A Joint Statement was issued, signed by the various members of the Board, including Fernandes.

I am choosed Tony Fernandes as one of my successful entrepreneurs because i think he has few characteristic that everyone who wish to become an entrepreneur should learn, Fernandes adopts a 'walk around' management style. He believes that if one sit up in his ivory tower and just look at financial reports, he is going to make some big mistakes. For a few days every month he works on the ground or in the cabin crew. He says he has learned a lot from working on the airline himself. He makes business decisions based on his own experiences, observations and feedback from his crews. Last but no least, Fernandes encourage people to speak up and get “every brain in the game” by relaxing formality and breaking down walls (literally — AirAsia executives sit with other Allstars in an open floor plan). A good example is how his office is constructed. It is smack at the heart of the company, with no walls and no doors. Everyone sees him and he sees everyone. He is Tony to everyone and he is in his polo shirt and with his famous baseball cap. Management sits on one huge stage in an open space office, where the chief pilot has a corner desk looking at the operations team, which is right next to the flight attendant team, which is right next to the reception area, and where there is no call center but an online chat customer service team.
source: http://leadershipunlv.blogspot.com/2013/07/tony-fernandes.html