In 2001, Tony Fernandes and Dato Kamarudin Meranum bought the failing government-owned Malaysian Airline – AirAsia – for one Ringgit. 1 They launched their new venture as a short-haul, low-cost Malaysian carrier, with just two aircraft and a lot of debt.
Fifteen years later AirAsia, with its sister long-haul airline AirAsia X was the largest low-cost carrier in the Asian region and the founding company of the Tune Group, a corporate portfolio under the ownership and guidance of the original founders – Fernandes and Memorandum. Other ventures in the Group include: Tune Hotels, Tune Talk, Tune Money, Tune Sport, Tune Labs, Tune Protect, Tune Studios, Epsom College, and Caterham Cars, among others
