Miss Universe's First Woman Owner Exits in Fraud Case

Anne Jakrajutatip bought Miss Universe for $20 million in October 2022 — and three years later, a Bangkok court issued a warrant for her arrest in an ongoing fraud case. Her whereabouts remain unknown, and she hasn't publicly addressed the allegations.

Jakrajutatip made history with that 2022 purchase. She became the first woman to own the Miss Universe Organization since it launched in 1952. What does that milestone change for practitioners watching the pageant business? On paper, everything: the brand, its licensing, its eligibility rules. In practice, her tenure became a case study in how fast a legacy asset can unravel under financial and legal pressure.

Who is Anne Jakrajutatip?

Born and raised in Bangkok, Jakrajutatip said she knew she was "trapped in the wrong body" since age 5, speaking on "The Journal" podcast in January 2023. She told Them in June 2023 that childhood bullying shaped her drive, and that a high school public speaking class gave her the tool she wanted.

"I wanted to have the weapon that is the microphone to express my attitude and exhibit that leadership to everyone," she said. "No more bullies. You cannot do anything harmful to me because I'm clever and smart and I can be successful."

She graduated with a degree in international relations from a university in Sydney, paying tuition with gas station wages, according to Them. Back in Thailand, she wasn't yet comfortable coming out as a transgender woman.

From video store to media empire

Her first big break came from a shelf in her parents' video-rental store. Jakrajutatip told The Guardian in 2023 that she spotted the BBC documentary "Walking With Dinosaurs" and offered to distribute the series in Thailand. She sold a million copies and soon distributed content from India, Japan, the US, and South Korea.

She built that foundation into JKN Global, launching beauty lines, drinks, and food supplements, and buying Thai TV channels. Her public profile rose through appearances on Thailand's versions of "Shark Tank" and "Project Runway." She counts Oprah Winfrey — the only person she follows on Instagram — as her main inspiration in media.

In 2018, she launched a nonprofit supporting transgender people. She underwent gender-affirming surgery in 2020 and became a mother six months later, with a second child the following year.

Why she wanted Miss Universe

The motivation traces to Miss Universe 2018, when Angela Ponce of Spain became the first transgender woman to compete. Jakrajutatip was in the audience.

"I stood up and applauded for her. I cried, and she also cried on the stage," she told Them. "When I turned back, everyone just stood up after me and applauded her big time."

"That moment, I thought, 'This is it. This is a pageant I can turn into a platform, and it must be a women's empowerment platform,'" she added.

The $20 million acquisition closed weeks after the Miss USA organization descended into chaos, with contestants claiming the 2022 pageant had been rigged in favor of R'Bonney Gabriel, who went on to win Miss Universe months later. "We seek not only to continue its legacy of providing a platform to passionate individuals from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and traditions, but also to evolve the brand for the next generation," Jakrajutatip said in a statement to Business Insider.

At her first pageant as owner in January 2023, she declared: "From now on it's going to be run by women, owned by a trans woman, for all women around the world." In 2024, she scrapped the 18-to-28 age cap, letting all women 18 and older compete.

What went wrong?

The trouble started with the balance sheet. JKN Global missed a payment on a multimillion-dollar loan in September 2023 and filed a "business rehabilitation" petition with Thailand's bankruptcy court. The company told Thailand's stock exchange president its liquidity management was "not in line with the expected forecast."

Jakrajutatip posted on Instagram that the pageant was her "first priority in life" and vowed to "sacrifice and do everything for the great success of OUR UNIVERSE!" The November 9, 2023 post has since been deleted.

Then came the leaks. A 2023 staff-meeting video obtained by Business Insider in 2024 captured Jakrajutatip calling diverse contestants a "communication strategy" and saying they "can compete, but they can't win." She responded on Facebook in February 2024 that the "malicious edited video was out of context" and that she'd been discussing a reality show, not the pageant.

In 2024, she went on Instagram Live with pageant advisor Osmel Sousa, and the pair judged contestants' headshots, laughing at some of them. After Miss Denmark Victoria Kjær Theilvig won in November 2024, Jakrajutatip told reporters the pageant didn't need to evolve further: "We have blond and blue eyes. We already got the best here."

First runner-up Chidimma Adetshina told Business Insider: "I'm not really offended by it. Maybe that's just her perspective." Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt was blunt in August 2025: "This is straight-up clownery."

In March 2025, judge Denise White alleged Jakrajutatip pressured Miss Universe president Paula Shugart to put Miss Thailand in the 2023 top five. "I can't believe Anne is telling me that, no matter what, we have to make sure Thailand is in the top five," White recalled Shugart saying. Shugart refused; Thailand's contestant placed first runner-up on merit. "There is nothing I have seen in Denise's comments that I would refute," Shugart said. She resigned after 23 years.

The fall

Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint in June 2025 alleging false and misleading financial statements, and Jakrajutatip stepped down from JKN Global on June 6. Days before the November 2025 pageant, Mario Búcaro, vice president for international relations, replaced her as CEO. On November 26, the Associated Press reported the Bangkok arrest warrant. Búcaro himself resigned the following month after the pageant's controversial final.

For anyone valuing legacy entertainment brands, the lesson is stark: a $20 million trophy asset can't outrun its owner's balance sheet — or a fraud investigation.