Ananda Krishnan studied at Vivekananda Tamil School in Kuala Lumpur and furthered his studies at Victoria Instituition, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Later, he attended University of Melbourne for his B.A. (Honours) degree. Following that, Krishnan studied at Harvard University for a Masters in Business Administration, graduating in 1964.

Ananda Krishnan’s first entrepreneurial venture is into oil trading. Later he moved into gambling (in Malaysia), stud farming (in Australia) and running a Hollywood cartoon studio. Soon, he diversified into a host of other business opportunities. In the early part of the 1990s, he started diversifying, in a big way, into the multimedia arena. Currently, he has business interests in entertainment, space, oil, power, shipping, telecommunications, property and gaming. His companies operate in a most parts of the South East Asia. A quarter of his wealth comes from the gambling business (lottery, horse-racing wagering).

Ananda's bank account rolled the first Band Aid concert, Live Aid, which was instrumental in bringing Live Aid to Asia.

Ananda Krishnan is the man who built the Petronas Twin Towers, the world's second tallest building. He is also the owner of two telecommunication companies - Maxis Communications and MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems - and has two communication satellites circumnavigating the earth. Maxis Communications Bhd, Malaysia’s biggest cellular phone company, has more than 8 million subscribers, with more than 40% market share in Malaysia. He is also the head of Astro All Asia Networks Plc, the only company that is currently providing satellite TV in Malaysia. Krishnan has a chain of multiplex theatres which holds more than 800 movie titles.

Krishnan is a close friend of former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and he is the older brother to fellow businessmen Maya Krishnan and Gopal Krishnan.