Bold IPO bet pays off for Malaysian billionaire

By Julie Goh

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan keeps out of the media glare, but that hasn't stopped the reclusive billionaire from making bold bets.

Two years after he took Malaysia's top telecoms firm private and enraged shareholders, Ananda is winning them back with a $3.3 billion IPO of his flagship firm in Southeast Asia's biggest ever offering.

Ranked by Forbes magazine as Southeast Asia's richest man with $7 billion in assets, the 71-year-old is viewed as someone who holds the remote control for a business empire that spans telecoms, gaming, property, oil exploration and pay-TV.

The shrewd tycoon, however, doesn't hold any executive positions in the four main Malaysian firms he controls and is credited with building a strong leadership team.

"I suppose in some ways he provides some inspiration, but the mark of a leader is someone who makes sure the company can run without him," said Peter Elston, a Singapore-based strategist at Aberdeen Asset Management in Singapore.

"I met the company a few weeks ago when they were doing their roadshow and I met seven executives from the group - Ananda was not among them," said Elston.

Ananda, known as TAK within his inner circle, graduated from Harvard and made his first millions as an oil trader, leveraging on friendships made during his business school days.

Born to a Sri Lankan Tamil civil servant, Ananda keeps a low profile and little is known about his private life.