Fremantle's long-standing Asia exec, Ganesh Rajaram, is leaving the U.K.-based producer/distributor at the end of March after two decades, and a little over two years since he took charge of the company's production businesses in Asia and Latin America as CEO, Asia & Latin America.

News of the exit emerged during the Series Mania Forum happening in Lille this week, setting off speculation about a political run in Singapore's upcoming elections, which have to be held before the end of November this year. Rajaram served as a Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) from 2016-2018 and has also served on the board of the Infocomm Development Authority (IMDA).

Rajaram cited personal reasons for his decision to leave, and said a future political career was not on his radar. 

The role is not being replaced for now. CEO Jennifer Mullin, based in Los Angeles, will resume responsibility for India and Indonesia, and also take on responsibility for Latin America.

Mullin said in a statement today that she had been "lucky enough to personally work closely with Ganesh for the last couple of years and would like to thank him for all his incredible work and achievements across his 20-year tenure. On behalf of myself, and friends and colleagues around the world at Fremantle, I would like to say a huge thank you to Ganesh for all his contributions and wish him the best for his future endeavours.”

Rajaram said the time was right after 20 years "to take a step back from my career to focus on my family".

Thanking Fremantle teams around the world and said: "More than anything, what I will miss most about Fremantle are the people and priceless relationships – something hard to find anyplace else. I wish you all the very best and look forward to seeing Fremantle’s continued success – albeit from a beach with my wife and son.”

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