Anne Jakrajutatip, the high-profile Thai owner of JKN Global Group/Miss Universe Organisation, faces the fight of her life to keep her crown.

Hi-glamour and hi-drama have walked side by side for this year’s Miss Universe pageant and its owner, the Bangkok-based JKN Global Group. As pretty women from everywhere did whatever beauty queens do to be crowned, a life-and-death business battle played out in Thailand. At stake are the hopes, wishes and empire of the transgender woman whose dreams came true when she bought the high-profile global pageant for US$20 million in October 2022.

The first signs of trouble broke into the open 10 months after the acquisition from IMG Worldwide was announced. At the end of August, a day before its debentures maturity date, the listed JKN Global Group said it was negotiating with bond holders to reschedule repayments. The company offered about 26% of the amount immediately, with a re-payment schedule for the balance. The total amounted to a little under THB610 million/US$17.3 million.

CEO/MD, Anne Jakrajutatip, made the announcement in a live broadcast on digital terrestrial broadcast channel, JKN18, which the company acquired for US$34 million in 2021, and attempted to reassure investors. 

Some two months later, on 8 November, the company filed for business rehabilitation.

If the move gave JKN some breathing room, what followed was far from calm. JKN Global was forced to file clarification after clarification to the Thai Stock Exchange, responding to everything from not inviting board members to critical meetings to a THB 1 billion/US$28.3 million lawsuit over an alleged crypto deal. 

Then came the resignation of long-time Miss Universe Organisation president, Paula Shugart, after 23 years. Watched by millions around the world, Shugart announced her decision live on stage from El Salvador at the end of the national costume show two days before the 18 November grand finale. 

Shugart said her decision was “not in response to recent events”. Among other things, she talked about the strong Miss Universe brand, how it would remain resilient, about the meaning of transformational leadership and putting the needs of the team above all else, about the importance of empathy, not self-interest, about honesty and respect integrity and living by your word.

“One cannot just talk the talk. One must walk the walk,” Shugart said. Many read thinly veiled criticism of Jakrajutatip in her words. Shugart capped her shock announcement by alluding to a book about her time at Miss Universe. “I have an unbelievable story to tell and I look forward to telling it,” she said.

Jakrajutatip didn’t get a minute’s rest once the pageant wrapped.

Six days later, on 24 November, Thai company and joint-venture partner, crypto currency platform TCG, held a press conference in Bangkok with a live stream for anyone who wanted to hear details of its argument.

TCG’s suit involves the Miss Universe Coin (MUCoin), which it launched during Philippine Blockchain Week in the second half of September, and a co-investment in beverage company, MN Beverages (MNB).

At the time, response to the MUCoin launch was swift and unequivocal.

The Miss Universe Organisation/JKN Global Group denied any association with MUCoin. “There is currently no Miss Universe crypto currency or blockchain offering,” the company said, warning fans to use caution and not to join in the coin scam, and promising that it was doing “everything we can to shut this down publicly, so that our community is not victims of this fraud”. Jakrajutatip said in a personal Facebook post that the company would “pursue all legal actions with regards to this infringement to protect our fans from any kind of fraud”.

That’s not how TCG boss, Jakraphan Punyapapha, sees it.

On 24 November, with his 18 December preliminary court hearing looming, Punyapapha publicly accused JKN of giving the public false information. The MUCoin agreement, he said, was sealed on 30 June 2023. The suit also includes allegations of embezzlement related to the MNB JV, which JKN shuttered at the end of September, allegedly without informing TCG, disposing of assets and laying off staff without notice. Punyapapha showed the media images he said proved that JKN had removed assets from MNB’s facility.  

Jakrajutatip denies TCG’s allegations, saying in a statement on the same day that the public warning posted about MUCoin was “an honest action and for the public’s interests”.  

The Thai Stock Exchange weighed in at the same time, advising investors to monitor company activities while it waits for clarification on JKN’s Q3 financial statements. The requests include MNB, which JKN said it was trying to sell for THB56 million/US$1.6 million – 27% lower than the acquisition price. SET has given JKN Global until 8 December to submit its replies.   

As events started to unfold, Jakrajutatip was philosophical. “Don’t be afraid to start all over again. This time, you are not starting from scratch but from high-level experience,” said text laid over an image of her and her two children posted on 12 November.

She refers obliquely to the protection/rehabilitation filing as events “in the recent global news”, and says this is “simply just another life chapter of mine, in which I learned how to be extremely resilient and also how to turn pain into power. I’m not afraid to face with it and address it to the world,” she said, reminding her 6.7 million followers that she had “built everything from scratch myself and it’s time for me to transform everything back to the top again”. The comment has so far received 15,000+ likes.

▶ Published in ContentAsia December 2023 magazine