A Bangkok court issued an arrest warrant for Anne Jakrajutatip on November 26, 2025, capping a three-year arc that took her from a $20 million acquisition of Miss Universe to the center of an ongoing fraud case. She hasn't publicly discussed the allegations, didn't respond to repeated requests for comment, and her whereabouts remain unknown.

Jakrajutatip made history in October 2022, when she bought Miss Universe and became the first woman to own the organization since its founding in 1952. She remade the competition, opening it to all women aged 18 and over — scrapping the previous 18-to-28 age cap. But her tenure was shadowed by controversy, and she stepped down in June 2025 after an investigation into her company, JKN Global, by Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission.

How did a Bangkok video store become an empire?

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 ended only after a high school public speaking class. "I wanted to have the weapon that is the microphone," she said. "No more bullies. You cannot do anything harmful to me because I'm clever and smart and I can be successful."

She studied international relations in Sydney, paying tuition with gas station wages, then returned home to run her parents' video-rental business. Her first big break was the BBC: she spotted "Walking With Dinosaurs" in the store and offered to distribute the series in Thailand. She sold a million copies, per The Guardian, and soon distributed content from India, Japan, the US and South Korea through JKN Global, while launching beauty lines, drinks, food supplements and TV channels. She became the world's third richest transgender person, appeared on Thailand's versions of "Shark Tank" and "Project Runway," and counts Oprah Winfrey — her only Instagram follow — as her chief inspiration.

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

Why did she want Miss Universe?

The trigger was Miss Spain 2018, Angela Ponce, the first trans woman to compete at Miss Universe. Jakrajutatip was in the audience. "I stood up and applauded for her. I cried, and she also cried on the stage," she told Them. "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.'"

The $20 million purchase came weeks after the Miss USA organization descended into chaos over contestants' claims that the 2022 pageant was rigged in favor of R'Bonney Gabriel, who later won Miss Universe. "We seek not only to continue its legacy... but also to evolve the brand for the next generation," Jakrajutatip said in a statement. 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."

Where did it go wrong?

Trouble hit fast. JKN Global missed a multimillion-dollar loan payment in September 2023 and filed a "business rehabilitation" petition (Thailand's equivalent of Chapter 11 restructuring) with the bankruptcy court. The company admitted its liquidity management was "not in line with the expected forecast." Jakrajutatip told fans the pageant was her "first priority in life" — words posted on November 9, 2023, and later deleted.

A leaked staff-meeting video, obtained by Business Insider in 2024, caught her saying diverse contestants "can compete, but they can't win" and calling inclusion a "communication strategy." 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 advisor Osmel Sousa, mocking contestants' headshots. After Miss Denmark Victoria Kjær Theilvig won that November, Jakrajutatip said the pageant didn't need to evolve: "We have blond and blue eyes. We already got the best here." First runner-up Chidimma Adetshina said, "I'm not really offended by it." Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt was blunt: "This is straight-up clownery."

What ended her reign?

In March 2025, judge Denise White alleged Jakrajutatip pressured president Paula Shugart to push Miss Thailand into the 2023 top five. "There is nothing I have seen in Denise's comments that I would refute," Shugart said; she resigned after 23 years.

In June 2025, Thailand's SEC alleged false and misleading financial statements. JKN Global confirmed her departure on June 6. Mario Búcaro replaced her as CEO days before the November 2025 pageant, then resigned in December after a controversial final. The arrest warrant followed on November 26.