Annual Report 2020

2 DIRECTORS DATUK KAMARUDIN BIN MERANUN 59 , Male Non-Independent Executive Chairman Malaysian Membership of Board Committees: None Datuk Kamarudin bin Meranun, male, Malaysian, 59, is a co-founder of AirAsia. He was appointed as a Non-Independent Executive Chairman of AirAsia Group Berhad (AAGB) on 30 March 2018. He is also a Non-Independent Executive Chairman of AirAsia Berhad (AAB), taking the lead in engaging with the government, aviation regulators and airport authorities of Malaysia. Before being designated as Executive Chairman, he was AAB’s Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer. In December 2001, Datuk Kamarudin, together with Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, Dato’ Pahamin Ab Rajab and Dato’ 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. In 2020, amid the global Covid-19 pandemic, AirAsia pivoted from just an airline into a tech company that focuses on travel, lifestyle, logistics and fintech. Earlier in his career, Datuk Kamarudin worked at Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank from 1988 to 1993 as a Portfolio Manager, managing both institutional and high net-worth individual clients’ investment funds. In 1994, he was appointed Executive Director of Innosabah Capital Management Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Innosabah Securities Sdn Bhd. He subsequently acquired the shares of the joint venture partner of Innosabah Capital Management Sdn Bhd, which was later renamed Intrinsic Capital Management Sdn Bhd. He holds a Diploma in Actuarial Science from University Technology MARA (UiTM), and graduated with a BSc with Distinction (Magna Cum Laude) majoring in Finance in 1986. In 1987, he obtained an MBA from Central Michigan University, in the United States. He received the Darjah Panglima Jasa Negara (PJN), which carries the title Datuk, from the Malaysian King in November 2013. Datuk Kamarudin is also a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director of AirAsia X Berhad, a Director of Red Giants Football Club and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mahathir Science Award Foundation. 35 ANNUAL REPORT 2020