Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Tony Fernandes" in English language version.
AirAsia's brand image is closely tied with its chief executive, Malaysian entrepreneur Tony Fernandes, who took over operations in 2001. Almost always in jeans and an Air Asia cap when interviewed, Mr Fernandes was seen as Malaysia's answer to Richard Branson.
Mr Fernandes bought Air Asia from a Malaysian government-owned company in September 2001 for a mere 25 pence.
'My mother was a Fernandez as well, with a 'z', and her ancestors were Malyalee', he says.
At the age of six, he began his career playing the piano for guests at the sales parties hosted by his mother. Raised in Malacca of mixed Portuguese-Asian descent, his mother was an entrepreneurial-minded music teacher who launched the Tupperware direct-marketing business in Malaysia.
Funded by his mother's Tupperware sales, Fernandes flew to England at the age of 12 for boarding school at Surrey's Epsom College, where he spent more time on sports than study.
He gives three reasons why it's a long shot, and says his response to an impromptu question was blown out of proportion.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)My father was an Indian citizen, a doctor. He was from Goa... [...] My mother was a Malaysian from Malacca — Ena Fernandez. They both had the same surname — one with "z", one with "s".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)