Miss Universe has a new owner! What can we expect from her?
Can Miss Universe return to its glorious days? A new era is about to start for the pageant, which is now Thai
Miss Universe’s new owner plans to build an empire of make-up to lingerie across Asia, aiming to tap the region’s pageant fandom even as interest in the event wanes in other parts of the world.
JKN Global Group, the Thai company that recently bought the Miss Universe Organization for US$20 million, will initially re-brand products it already makes into themed merchandise, said Chief Executive Officer Jakaphong Jakrajutatip.
The company plans to roll out a new line of vitamin water in Thailand by early next year, before potentially expanding into Malaysia and Indonesia, she said.
Other products being considered include lingerie, cosmetics and perfume, according to Jakaphong, who is also known for being Thailand’s first transgender CEO.
The Thai transgender tycoon the first woman to own Miss Universe, hopes to inspire.
The company, which currently earns almost all of its revenue through broadcasting rights, will also offer other firms the right to use the Miss Universe brand on consumer goods, she said, as well as possible joint ventures for themed private jets and hotels.
Jakaphong’s goal is for the Miss Universe business to generate 1.2 billion baht (US$32 million) in revenue by 2025, driven primarily by emerging economies in Asia, where beauty pageants remain popular.
“It’s an aspiration for them to have a better life, representing their fantasy, the prestige of having a luxury lifestyle,” the 43-year-old said in an interview on Thursday.
Investors have backed the plan, with JKN’s shares surging 47 per cent on the acquisition news. While they traded about 8 per cent lower on Friday, the stock is still on course for the biggest weekly gain in almost five years.
Away from the business side, Jakaphong’s purchase of Miss Universe comes with declining viewership in the US as well as scrutiny of the pageant that critics say has an outdated focus on women’s appearance, particularly a portion in which contestants wear swimwear.
The competition also has historic ties to former President Donald Trump, who owned it between 1996 and 2015.
Plans are being made to make the pageant more focused on “transformational leadership,” she said, adding that more details will be announced closer to the next competition scheduled for New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, in January.
Jakaphong has pointed to her own experiences with discrimination and sexual harassment from a teacher as a core driver in aiming for a more inclusive pageant.
Progress has historically been slow. Miss Universe ended a ban on transgender participants in 2012, though only one such contestant has been featured in the international competition, and will allow mothers and married women to compete next year.
Back in Thailand, Jakaphong wants to focus on advocating for changes to legislation that would allow people to legally change their gender.
While the predominantly Buddhist country has taken steps to allow same-sex unions, the nation’s House of Representatives has stopped short of legalizing and recognizing gay marriage.
She’s also considering including segments that highlight LGBTQ rights in Miss Universe programming. “With my leadership, people will understand LGBTQ more”, she said. “It would be shameful if I don’t do anything with a global platform like that”.
Who is Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip?
Thai transgender business mogul Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip just made history as the first woman to own the global beauty pageant Miss Universe Organization in its 71-year history. The news, which was shared by Jakrajutatip’s company on October 26, marks a phenomenal milestone for the multimillionaire, with the deal costing an estimated US$20 million, according to NBC.
With model-like looks and a six million follower count on her Instagram page, the 43-year-old has been making waves in the business world for a while now. Jakrajutatip has even appeared in local versions of Project Runway and Shark Tank in her home country, per NBC.
She’s also known for supporting trans awareness in Thailand by setting up the Life Inspired for Transsexual Foundation (LIFT), which advocates for transgender rights.
During an interview for Bangkok Post, Jakrajutatip claimed that, before her transition, she studied in an all-male school in Thailand where she was bullied by her classmates and even sexually harassed by her teacher because of her gender identity. This led her to drop out and she later started working at a gas station to support herself. Eventually, she left her home country to study in Sydney, Australia.
Jakrajutatip told The Times of India that she always felt like a woman, but her parents weren’t supportive of her. She said that she would often put on her mother’s clothes as a child and wanted to become a girl. Despite her parents’ opposition, she began her transition while she was studying in Sydney. However, she decided to retain her original deep baritone voice, as she considers it a part of her identity too.
She has a strong educational background.
Despite originally quitting school in Thailand to study in Australia, Jakrajutatip boasts an extensive educational background. She graduated from Australia’s Bond University where she studied international relations, has a certificate in real estate development from Chulalongkorn University, and also bagged a certificate from the Thai Institute of Directors Association’s Director Accreditation Program (DAP), as per Elite Plus Magazine.
After graduating, Jakrajutatip returned to Bangkok to help manage her family’s video rental business while she worked towards her goal of setting up her own company, the article stated.
Now she has a big challenge ahead: to make Miss Universe the entertaining event it was up to the early 2000s, with high television ratings. All this with considerable changes in its rules, and possibly, In its format. We wish her the best of luck!!
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