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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.