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James Riady Plans to Leave His Business

After a religious experience and hit by the financial crisis, James Riady is to quit the Lippo Group and go back to school or enter the Christian ministry

JAKARTA -Straits Times- Mr James Riady of Indonesia, one of Asia's wealthiest businessmen, plans to quit his family-controlled Lippo Group to go back to school or possibly to enter the Christian ministry, writes Asia Inc magazine.

The magazine reports in its latest edition that the 43-year-old hopes he can do this "soon... within two or three years". It was a religious experience 10 years ago that led to his decision. A born-again Christian, he told the magazine of a growing inner emptiness during his years of financial success.

"It accumulated until 1990 when I just broke down. I went into my room by myself and started crying out to God," he said. "All of a sudden something came upon me in my dreams. God allowed me to reflect on my life."

Business was no longer all-consuming, he said. He does not think his departure will have an impact on the diversified business group, worth US$8 billion (S$13.6 billion), which he has been credited with restoring to stability after the regional financial crisis.

Mr Riady has also set into motion an elaborate Internet strategy, which he hopes will propel the Lippo Group into the forefront of cyber-business in Asia, the magazine reported. As the most high profile member of the Riady family, which is said to be worth at least US$2 billion, his personal contacts include high-ranking politicians around the world, including United States President Bill Clinton. While Mr Riady was said to be "assiduous in cultivating people", he has also been accused of making illegal donations to Mr Clinton's election campaign. He recently gave a job in Jakarta to former Arkansas Governor Jim Tucker, a key figure in the Whitewater scandal in which Mr Clinton was involved.

In the Asia Inc interview, Mr Riady spoke of the stress that came with running a conglomerate of 38 companies and of sleepless nights plagued by "the ghost that's always disturbing you, whispering to you that you're not going to make it".

The Asian economic crisis was particularly trying. He describes two particularly bleak moments in 1998. One occurred when the economy was in its worst state of "disequilibrium" and the public had no faith in the government, the banking system or the currency. "You thought the whole economy was going down the drain," he said. The second was during the anti-Chinese riots of May 1998 when even the security surrounding his Lippo Karawaci enclave could not keep out the angry mobs. The showpiece shopping mall -- then the biggest in Indonesia -- was burnt down. It is not known how many people died. "I wondered whether the country would not just break up," he said. 

But can he really walk away from Lippo? Remembering his religious epiphany of a few years ago, he said: "Once you have seen eternity, it changes the way you see things."

Other English Coverage:

Discriminative Laws Still Abound

Letter From Romo Sandyawan to Asiaweek

Repeal of Discriminative Laws on Citizenship Urged