Meet Jedidiah Francis

Jedidiah Francis was born in St Vincent and the Grenadines, holds a a DPhil degree in Statistics from Oxford University and is currently Head of Data Science at ASOS.com (an online retail store based in London, UK).

For those who have no idea of Francis’ background and achievements, many of their comments were centred on the typical tabloid style interpretation and perception of this young man.

Francis’ story is one of inspiration and therefore I would like to shed a positive spotlight on this young man.

In 2000, Francis graduated from the St Vincent Community College as one of two ‘Students of the Year’ in 2000, receiving awards for being the best Biology and Mathematics student.” A year later, he joined the British army in February 2001 serving in the engineer regiment.

In July 2002 he left the British army and a year later enrolled at Queen Mary University of London to read for a BSc degree in Biology with Business Management. Francis graduated with first class honors in 2006.

And Francis is smart; he developed a statistical model to describe the proliferation of transposons or “jumping genes” in mosquito populations. He also worked alongside leading researchers to develop statistical models of HIV genetic evolution.

In 2012, Francis joined Expedia as a Senior Quantitative Analyst. A year later he moved to ASOS.com as Lead Data Scientist, was promoted to Principal Data Scientist and Personalisation Lead in 2015 and then in May 2016, he became Head of Data Science.

As the saying goes don’t just read the headlines, read the story. Thank you Jedidiah for being an inspiration to young men across the Caribbean, who often times are judged on the basis of their skin colour or economic background.

But recently Francis was put in the spotlight after his wife, Angeline Francis Khoo, the daughter of Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng, revealed that she gave up her share of the family fortune to marry Francis.

The daughter of the Laura Ashley chairman has revealed that her parents’ bitter £64 million (RM357 million) High Court divorce battle was “about control” rather than money.

Angeline Francis Khoo, 34, told The Telegraph that she was no longer on speaking terms with her father, tycoon Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng, and had chosen to turn her back on the family business, as well as any financial support, in order to marry a man of whom he did not approve.

Khoo recounted how she met her husband, Caribbean-born data scientist Jedidiah Francis, while studying at Oxford, but that when she told her father she wanted to marry him, he refused to give her his blessing.

“I BELIEVED DAD’S STANCE WAS WRONG, SO THERE WAS NO QUESTION ABOUT WHAT WAS RIGHT,” SHE TOLD THE MAIL ON SUNDAY’S YOU MAGAZINE.

“I’VE BEEN FORTUNATE TO HAVE THAT PERSPECTIVE: YOU CAN HAVE MONEY AND IT’S A BLESSING; IT ALLOWS YOU TO DO THINGS AND GIVES YOU OPTIONS, BUT THERE ARE ALSO THINGS THAT COME WITH IT, SUCH AS CONTROL.

“MONEY AMPLIFIES NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS AND THAT CAN CAUSE PROBLEMS. TO WALK AWAY FROM THAT WAS ACTUALLY VERY EASY. I DIDN’T EVEN CONSIDER IT,” KHOO SAID.

Until that point, Khoo had been destined to work for the family business. She said the plan had been “drilled” into her since she was a teenager and she spent semester breaks working in the different departments of Laura Ashley.

She claimed she had no idea about the scale of her 78-year-old father’s wealth until it was disclosed in court, when her mother, former Malaysian beauty queen Pauline Chai, 70, was eventually awarded one of the largest settlements in history.

“IN THESE SITUATIONS WITH SO MUCH MONEY OFTEN PEOPLE ARE, LIKE, ‘I DON’T GET IT. WHY ARE THEY FIGHTING OVER SO MUCH?’

“BUT IT’S NOT REALLY ABOUT THE MONEY, IT’S ABOUT CONTROL AND LOSING THAT CONTROL. THAT’S SOMETHING THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN’T GRASP BECAUSE YOU’RE DISCUSSING FINANCES WAY BEYOND YOUR BASIC NEEDS,” KHOO SAID.

Chai, who was Miss Malaysia in 1969, had demanded half of her former husband’s £205 million fortune. She asserted she had made an equal contribution by fulfilling her role as a “traditional” wife during 42 years of marriage.

Apparently, he had wanted to give her just £9 million.

Khoo, who was the only witness called in her parents’ divorce, said it was “not a nice situation” and claimed that her mother, whom it was revealed in court owned 1,000 pairs of shoes, was actually quite frugal, choosing to dye her own hair rather than go to the salon.

She said that her father had not played an integral part in her childhood and that she and her four siblings only saw him once or twice a year when he was not on business.

Khoo has since established her own fashion business under the brand Rosie on Fire but says she hopes one day, that her father might “let go of his anger” so they could enjoy a cordial relationship