Thai transgender businesswoman buys Miss Universe pageant for $20 million

In an unexpected development, a Thai celebrity media tycoon who is a transgender woman has purchased the Miss Universe Organization for $20 million, making her the first woman to own the beauty pageant organizer.

The Miss Universe Organization, which Donald Trump co-owned between 1996 and 2002, hosts an annual beauty pageant that is aired in 165 countries and has been running for 71 years.

Jakapong "Anne" Jakrajutatip, the CEO and largest shareholder of JKN Global Group, is a Thai celebrity, having been in Thai versions of the reality series Project Runway and Shark Tank.

JKN creates its own programmes and distributes foreign content in Thailand, such as documentaries and Bollywood dramas.

Thailand has a positive international reputation, but when it comes to the rights and lifestyles of LGBTQ communities, Human Rights Watch in 2021, said in a report that the lack of a procedure for transgender people to change their legal gender, combined with insufficient legal protections and social stigma, limits transgender people's access to services and exposes them to daily indignities.