How Robin Khuda became one of Australia's wealthiest

He has become quite famous over the past few years. The Bangladeshi expatriates in Sydney often spoke about his progress. And then in September last year, Robin Khuda became an overnight sensation across Australia. The country’s leading media outlets reported that his company, AirTrunk, had been acquired for over USD 16 billion by a consortium led by Blackstone Incorporation, a US-based investment management firm and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). As a result, Robin Khuda’s name ascended the ranks of Australia’s wealthiest individuals.

Robin Khuda lives in Sydney with his wife, two daughters and parents. Journalist Kawsar Khan gathered detailed information on Khuda from various verified sources and writes about his phenomenal success.

Robin Khuda’s ancestral home is in the village Chhatiantoli, Sirajganj. His father SM Wazed Ali moved to Dhaka for his higher secondary education. After completing his studies, he joined the civil service. Due to his father’s government job, Robin was born and raised in Dhaka. He pursued his education at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Government Boy’s High School and Hermann Gmeiner College.

In 1997, after passing his HSC examinations, Robin Khuda moved to Australia and enrolled at the University of Technology Sydney for his undergraduate studies in accounting. Once their only son had settled in Sydney, his parents followed the next year and SM Wazed Ali subsequently began working in Australia.

After completing his undergraduate studies in 2002, Robin Khuda pursued an MBA at Manchester Business School in the United Kingdom. Alongside his university studies, he undertook various jobs. He later joined a company as an accountant, where his dedication and expertise enabled him to progress rapidly. To further enhance his professional credentials, he completed several courses, including the Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) qualification.

In 2007, he joined the Japanese firm Fujitsu as a General Manager, where he was responsible for the telecommunication and cloud computing division across Australia and New Zealand for over two years. Subsequently, he assumed the role of Chief Financial Officer at the Australian telecommunications company PIPE Networks, which was engaged in constructing a submarine fibre-optic cable between Australia and the island of Guam. His extensive experience in the telecommunications sector paved the way for his next role as Executive Director at the data centre company NEXTDC, where he worked closely with investors.

His exceptional skills gained significant recognition and he played a crucial role in expanding the company, which now has a market value of approximately 10 billion Australian dollars. In 2014, Robin Khuda left NEXTDC and assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the telecommunications payment company Mint wireless.

When asked about the inspiration behind AirTrunk, Robin Khuda explained, “Since around 2010 or 2011, I had been observing the growing popularity of cloud services. Companies such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft were leading the industry, yet I saw opportunities in the data centre sector. That was when I began planning to build cloud storage facilities that would be cost-effective and energy-efficient. This vision led to the establishment of AirTrunk.”

AirTrunk commenced operations in 2015. Within just a few months, the company secured a contract to build a data centre worth USD  400 million US dollars. However, this presented a significant challenge for Robin Khuda, as AirTrunk lacked the necessary capital to undertake such a large-scale project. He approached banks and various financial institutions for loans, but as a newly established company with limited recognition, AirTrunk struggled to attract investors. Despite these setbacks, Robin did not give up. He invested almost all or his personal savings into the project while simultaneously seeking international investment. His perseverance eventually paid off. “In 2016, we did not have the USD 400 million required to construct a 17-megawatt data centre. Fortunately, at the beginning of 2017, we successfully secured the necessary funding.”

In Australia’s technology sector, AirTrunk is now a well-established name in data management and storage. The company employs over 450 professionals and operates the country’s first and largest hyperscale data centre. Currently, AirTrunk provides cloud services across the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan. The company has 11 data centres in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore with plans to establish 40 additional centres in the near future.

Once, Robin Khuda approached various financial institutions seeking loans. Today those very institutions approach AirTrunk with loan offers. Last year, more than 40 financial institutions extended proposals to lend. AirTrunk has since secured over BDT 36,000 crore in loans from some of these institutions. At the end of the year, AirTrunk made headlines with its acquisition. A consortium led by Blackstone and CPP Investments acquired AirTrunk and at the time of the acquisition, the company’s commercial valuation was USD 100 billion.

Despite the acquisition, Robin Khuda remains the Chief Executive Officer of AirTrunk and has ownership in the company. As a result, he is now ranked as the 109th wealthiest individual in Australia. In recognition of his achievements, Robin Khuda was awarded the title of Business Person of the Year by the Australian Financial Review (AFR) last year.

In 2020, Robin Khuda established the Khuda Family Foundation, an organisation aimed at advancing the development and welfare of the Asia-Pacific region. The foundation works to increase women’s participation in the technology sector, while also providing support for mental health development and the prevention of domestic violence. Recently, it was revealed that the foundation has donated nearly BDT 800 crore (100 million Australian Dollars) to the University of Sydney. This donation will be used to fund scholarships and grants for female students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects at the university. Although Robin has been working on this project for the past two years, it was not widely known until recently.

Robin Khuda prefers to continue his work quietly, away from the spotlight.