The billionaires’ dinner you’ll never be invited to
Plus: tech media gets crowded and VCs crave Malaysia money.
We’re coming off a long weekend in Kuala Lumpur — Thaipusam followed by Federal Territories Day today.
While writing this, I had a good laugh with friends over news that a 72-year-old Penang housewife bagged a RM40 million Lotto jackpot.
The jokes came fast: she’s the true VC to perfect power law dynamics to better returns than investors betting on a certain VC, whom I shall not name.
Hey, it’s a holiday in the capital. Jokes are mandatory even if work isn’t stopping.
Today’s News, ideas and everything in between covers a billionaire’s dinner club, a tech media outfit opening shop in Malaysia (sort of), and the new kids in the Malaysian VC block.
First up, Southeast recently tackled some of the region’s wealthiest. I covered the Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand angles in case you missed it:
The Malaysianist runs on subscriptions. Fuel up with a monthly, annual or founding member plan.
P.S. The founding member tier doesn’t have a ceiling; you can go as high as you want — it’s the ultimate supporter badge.
It’ll also grant you access to Brainjam with bangers such as this 👇🏽
And, yes, you can upgrade subscription tiers at any time.
Mulling a group purchase for family, friends and colleagues? I’ve got you. Group subscriptions come with discounts, too.
Before I get to the meat of today’s newsletter, let’s talk about the Epstein documents released by the US Department of Justice last month.
PM Anwar Ibrahim’s name surfaced in correspondence involving Jeffrey Epstein. A 2012 exchange, but largely a nothing burger despite the Anwar name-drop.
The mention is limited to an unnamed associate (redacted) pitching Jes Staley, then JP Morgan’s investment-banking chief, on arranging a sit-down with Anwar, who was still opposition leader after his 2012 sodomy acquittal.
The premise: if Anwar ever became prime minister, he would “clean up” Malaysia and turn it into a “gold mine” for the bank.
Epstein forwarded the idea, claiming he had “always stayed close” to Anwar for years.
Anwar has denied any connection. He says he only learnt of the email recently, had “absolutely no connection whatsoever” with the parties involved, and dismissed it outright.
Fair enough. Anwar was either jailed or a sidelined opposition politician at the time. But there’s an intriguing question: how did Epstein, Staley, or the mysterious intermediary believe they had any “in” with Anwar at all?
Then there’s a 2009 email from London-based advisory Asia Gateway.
The message, sent to Epstein’s personal Gmail, pitches potential “advisory/financing solution” business in Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and Malaysia, where the sender claims “the Minister of Finance is my friend and asked me for help/ideas.”
Who was Finance Minister then?
Najib Razak.