Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip (; born 17 February 1979), also known as Anne Jakrajutatip, sometimes informally stylized as Anne JKN, is a Thai businesswoman and television host, along with being the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

and current

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

JKN Global Group JKN Global Group Public Company Limited (formerly known as STGCP, JKN Living and JKN Global Media) is a Thai multinational conglomerate founded by Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip. Its headquarters are in the JKN Empire building in Samut Prakan, Tha ...

. A media entrepreneur and digital content distributor in Thailand, Jakrajutatip is the current owner of the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

Miss USA Miss USA is an American beauty pageant that has been held annually since 1952 to select the entrant from United States in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operated both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA, until 2020. ...

, and

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or ...

beauty pageant organizations. Jakrajutatip became the first

trans woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

who fully owned these organizations in their history. According to ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', she is the third richest transgender person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$210 million (6.37 billion baht) in 2020.

Early life

Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip was born into a

Thai Chinese Thai Chinese (also known as Chinese Thais, Sino-Thais) are persons of Chinese people, Chinese descent in Thailand. Thai Chinese are the largest mixed group in the country and the largest overseas Chinese community in the world with a popul ...

family in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. She is the eldest child of Ashira Suthisataporn and Ampai Jakrajutatip. She has two siblings. During an interview on "The Journal" podcast, Jakrajutatip mentioned that she knew she was "trapped in the wrong body" since the age of five. Her parents ran a video rental store, which would later become ST Grand, and encouraged her to learn English. She speaks both English and Thai. During her early years, she attended Assumption College, Bangkok. She ran her family's video distribution and production company for her parents and invested in many media licenses and real estate. She went abroad to study

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

Bond University Bond University is Australia's first private university, private not-for-profit university and is located in Robina, Queensland, Robina on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Since its opening on 15 May 1989, Bond University has primarily been a teachi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. She later earned a certificate of Real Estate Development from

Chulalongkorn University Chulalongkorn University (CU; ; , ) is a public university, public Autonomous university, autonomous research university in Bangkok, Thailand. The university was originally founded during King Chulalongkorn's reign as a school for training ro ...

and completed a Director Accreditation Program from the Thai Institute of Directors Association.

Career

Jakrajutatip's career began to soar while she was working at her parents' video rental shop. The turning point came when she discovered the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary ''Walking With Dinosaurs'' and reached out to the BBC, expressing interest in distributing the series in Thailand. This venture proved highly successful, resulting in the sale of one million copies. Commencing with the distribution of documentaries, she gradually broadened her scope to encompass content from South Korea, Japan, and Hollywood. She notably pioneered the introduction of Indian TV shows to Thai audiences, a contribution that led to her earning the moniker 'Queen of Indian Content'. Subsequently, she founded JKN Global Media in 2013. Jakrajutatip successfully listed her business, JKN Global Media, on the Market for Alternative Investment in 2017 and assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2018. In 2019, Jakrajutatip was the first Thai and the first transgender woman to receive the Asia Media Woman of the Year award at the Content Asia Summit in Singapore. She was named one of the "Women of the Year 2022" by the ''

Bangkok Post The ''Bangkok Post'' is an English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is published in broadsheet and digital formats. The first issue was sold on 1 August 1946. It had four pages and cost one baht, a considerable amount ...

''. In 2021, she elevated her business listing to the main board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). She continued her ambitious ventures in the media industry by investing 1.1 billion baht to acquire the TV channel in April 2021. She then ventured into the e-commerce business, buying a stake in an online shopping company in September 2021. She has also been outspoken about her experiences as a transgender woman and is the founder and director of the Life Inspired for Transsexual Foundation, a charity organization that advocates for transgender rights in Thailand. In October 2022, she purchased the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants for $20 million USD, citing the desire to expand the cause of

women empowerment Women's empowerment (or female empowerment) may be defined in several method, including accepting women's viewpoints, making an effort to seek them and raising the status of women through education, awareness, literacy, equal status in society, ...

among those who are disenfranchised by poverty and gender discrimination. This acquisition marked her as the first woman to own the organization since its inception in 1952. As of 23 March 2023, her shareholding in the JKN Group has decreased to 24.55%, down from a previous level of over 50%. Despite this decrease, she retains the status of the largest shareholder, as reported on the SET website. She filed for bankruptcy for the JKN Global Group in November 2023.

Personal life

Jakrajutatip is a

transgender woman A trans woman or transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity and may experience gender dysphoria (distress brought upon by the discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their ...

. She has two children. She currently lives in Bangkok, Thailand.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakrajutatip, Jakkaphong Living people Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip 20th-century businesswomen Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Bond University alumni Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip 1979 births Transgender businesspeople Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip