Rasiah Ranjith Leon (born 6 February 1968) is a Sri Lankan-Norwegian entrepreneur who, with

Ratheesan Yoganathan Ratheesan Yoganathan (born 6 December 1975) is a British entrepreneur who, with Rasiah Ranjith Leon and Baskaran Kandiah, is best known as the co-founder of Lebara Group. On 10 August 2012 he took on the role of ex-chairman of Lebara Group a ...

and

Baskaran Kandiah Baskaran Kandiah is a Sri Lankan businessman who is the co-founder and Director of Lebara Group, a European telecoms company with operations in six countries. He is also the Chairman of London Tamil Media, the holding company of IBC Tamil, a po ...

, is best known as the co-founder of Lebara Group where he still is a Director and one of the controlling shareholders. Leon holds a BSc degree in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

Career

In Sri Lanka Rasiah R Leon founded Pentag Asia Group at the age of 21, growing it to a successful company with more than 500 employees. Upon arriving in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and getting

political asylum The right of asylum, sometimes called right of political asylum (''asylum'' ), is a juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereignty, sovereign authority, such as a second country or ...

he start working as a cleaner and later as a sorter at the Norwegian Post. Starting first part-time as a seller for the calling card company Telesenter Scandinavia, he rapidly raised to the position of Sales Director for Norway. In 2001, he made friends with two other

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

colleagues, Ratheesan Yoganathan and Baskaran Kandiah, who eventually became his business partners creating Lebara Group.

Business

In 2001, Rasiah Leon, Baskaran Kandiah and Ratheesan Yoganathan founded the Lebara Group, a company which they still own and operate successfully. The three partners have later ventured into other business areas with their mutually owned LBR Investments BV which again mainly invest in hotels and property. Rasiah Leon's ownership in Lebara Group BV and LBR Investments BV is organised through the Norwegian investment company, Leon Holding AS.

Charity

Rasiah Ranjith Leon, along with co-founders Ratheesan Yoganathan and Baskaran Kandiah started Lebara Foundation, a charitable venture in 2005, formally established in 2008. Lebara Foundation is currently involved in charitable projects helping vulnerable children and displaced communities in 13 countries on all continents. His next big ambition is to expand Lebara Foundation further. To fund continued development, he plans to donate half his wealth to the foundation. RBS has been asked to run a review, which it is hoped will lead to a sale at around £650m.

References

Article in Norwegian magazine ''Utrop''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leon, Rasiah Ranjith Sri Lankan emigrants to Norway Refugees in Norway 1968 births Living people Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan businesspeople