Rasiah Ranjith Leon (born February 6, 1968) is a 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 an ...
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 pop ...
, is best known as the co-founder of
Lebara Group where he still is a Director and one of the controlling shareholders. Rasiah R. Leon holds a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its 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 which r ...
. Rasiah Ranjith Leon was born in
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...
,
Northern Province, Sri Lanka
The Northern Province ( ta, வட மாகாணம் ''Vaṭa Mākāṇam''; si, උතුරු පළාත ''Uturu Paḷāta'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The province ...
.
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 country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and getting
political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...
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:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
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 real estate.
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
RBS may refer to:
Organisations Banking
* The Royal Bank of Scotland, a retail banking subsidiary of NatWest Group
** RBS International, the offshore banking arm of NatWest Group
Education
* Regent's Business School
* Rotterdam Business School
...
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 businesspeople