The man who gave up a life of luxury, the right to become one of the richest people in the world, to become a mon. Ven Ajahn Siripanyo is a billionaire’s son. His father Ananda Krishnan commands a net worth of over Rs 40,000 crore ($5 billion). Known as AK, he is a telecom czar who was also the owner of Indian phone company Aircel, which once used to sponsor cricket legend MS Dhoni-led IPL team Chennai Super Kings.
Born to the Tamil-origin telecom tycoon, Siripanyo was destined to lead Krishnan’s mega-billion-dollar telecom empire which includes business interests in telecom, media, oil and gas, real estate and satellites. Together, Krishnan has stakes in at least 9 companies. The massive fortune he earned has made him one of the richest men in Malaysia.
Ananda Krishnan is a buddhist and a leading philanthropist himself, donating to a number of causes from education to humanitarian efforts. His son reportedly became a Buddhist monk at just 18 years of age. While much is not public about Siripanyo’s choice to become a monk, it has been reported that he had taken up the ascetic life for "fun" while at a retreat. However, the temporary endeavor eventually became a permanent one. Instead of running his father's multi-crore empire, Siripanyo decided to live a live of simplicity, begging for alms
It has been over 2 decades since Siripanyo renounced all the riches he was set to inherit and chose to live in the forest as a monk. He is the abbot of Dtao Dum Monastery, Thailand. It has been also claimed that the monk is a descendant of the Thai royal family from his mother's side. There are not many details about Siripanyo's earlier life but he reportedly was brought up with his 2 sisters in the UK and can speak up to 8 languages.
