TONY FERNANDES
Chief Executive Officer, Capital A
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, male, 61, is a co-founder of AirAsia. He was appointed as a Non-Independent Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Capital A Berhad (formerly known as AirAsia Group Berhad) on 30 March 2018.
Tan Sri Tony is one of Asia's most recognisable entrepreneurs, best known for co-founding low-cost carrier AirAsia and democratising air travel in the region.
In December 2001, Tan Sri Tony, together with Datuk Kamarudin Meranun, Dato' Pahamin Ab Rajab and Dato' Abdel Aziz @ Abdul Aziz bin Abu Bakar, acquired struggling domestic airline, AirAsia, and with the help of Conor McCarthy, relaunched it as a pioneer of budget travel in Asia, building AirAsia into the world's best low-cost carrier.
He studied in the UK and qualified as an Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1991, then as a Fellow Member in 1996. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). An accountant by training, he began his career in Virgin Group before returning to Malaysia as Warner Music Group's Vice President for Southeast Asia before venturing into the airline business.
Tan Sri Tony has received numerous honours and awards over the course of his career. These include the Honour of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire, conferred by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2011, and the Commander of the Legion d'Honneur, awarded by the French Government for outstanding contributions to the economy of France through the aviation industry. He also received the Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM) award conferred by Yang Di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, which carries the title Tan Sri.