James Riady is the deputy chairman of the
Lippo GroupThe Lippo Group is a major Indonesian conglomerate founded by Mochtar Riady. The Lippo Group began with Bank Lippo, later using this as a platform for regional property development projects. These projects, throughout Indonesia and China, are akin to Irvine, California's development...
, a major
IndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n
conglomerateA conglomerate is a combination of two or more corporations engaged in entirely different businesses that fall under one corporate structure , usually involving a parent company and several subsidiaries. Often, a conglomerate is a multi-industry company...
. He is a
Chinese IndonesianChinese Indonesians, also called the Indonesian Chinese, are an overseas Chinese group whose ancestors emigrated from China to Indonesia, formerly a colony of the Netherlands known as the Dutch East Indies...
, and also the son of
Mochtar RiadyMochtar Riady is an ethnic Chinese financial magnate in Southeast Asia. He is the founder and CEO of Lippo Group. He is also the chairman of the Asian Bankers Association. Born on 12 May 1929, in Malang, East Java, Mochtar is known to have a cold hand at transforming the fortunes of financial...
, founder of the group. The group has recently signed an agreement with Khazanah of
Malaysia to relinquish its majority stake in
Lippo BankLippo Bank was a bank from Indonesia until it merged with Bank CIMB Niaga in 2008.-History:Lippo Bank was Indonesia's 9th largest bank in Indonesia by the number of the assets. It was established in 1948 and controlled by ethnic Chinese Mochtar Riady together with the Lippo Group...
. Due to his recent conversion to
evangelical ChristianityEvangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
, James is now focusing on the study of
theologyTheology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
.
Business activities
Riady's entry into the American business community began in 1977, when he was persuaded by Arkansas banking moguls W. R. Witt and
Jackson T. StephensJackson Thomas Stephens was the founder of Little Rock, Arkansas-based Stephens Group, a diversified family of investment and media companies.- Background :...
, and founders of
Stephens Inc.Stephens Inc. is a full service, privately owned investment bank based in Little Rock, Arkansas.-History:Stephens Inc. was founded in 1933 by W.R. Witt Stephens. His brother, Jackson T. Stephens joined the firm in 1946 and served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Stephens Inc. from 1956 to 1986....
, one of America's largest investment banks outside of Wall Street, to become partners in the Stephens's Worthen Banking Corporation, after the younger Riady was sent by his father,
Mochtar RiadyMochtar Riady is an ethnic Chinese financial magnate in Southeast Asia. He is the founder and CEO of Lippo Group. He is also the chairman of the Asian Bankers Association. Born on 12 May 1929, in Malang, East Java, Mochtar is known to have a cold hand at transforming the fortunes of financial...
, to set up a banking presence in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Mochtar Riady was also interested in helping
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
's former budget director,
Bert LanceThomas Bertram Lance is an American businessman, who was Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Jimmy Carter. He is known mainly for his resignation from President Jimmy Carter's administration due to scandal in 1977.- Early Life :Lance was born in Gainesville, Georgia...
, sell stock he held in the National Bank of Georgia, though the deal never materialized. Through their dealings with
Stephens Inc.Stephens Inc. is a full service, privately owned investment bank based in Little Rock, Arkansas.-History:Stephens Inc. was founded in 1933 by W.R. Witt Stephens. His brother, Jackson T. Stephens joined the firm in 1946 and served as Chairman of the Board and CEO of Stephens Inc. from 1956 to 1986....
the Riadys made the acquaintance of the then-
Arkansas governor,
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
. In the early 1980s James and his father signed a licensing agreement with Zenith Electronics to produce color television sets in Indonesia and built a large production plant near Jakarta. Later, in 1985, Worthen was indicted of having administered several million dollars' worth of illegal, preferential loans to companies owned by the Riadys. The loans had allegedly been channeled through Lippo Finance and Investment, the Riadys' Little Rock-based company established in 1983, as well as the Stephenses and
Liem Swie LiongSudono Salim , also known as Liem Sioe Liong, is a Chinese Indonesian businessman of Hokchia origin. He was once considered the richest individual in Indonesia. He was the head of the conglomerate Salim Group before turning over its management to his youngest son Anthony in 1992.-Early life:Salim...
, another
Chinese-Indonesian businessman, sometimes described as having been Mochtar's mentor.
After Worthen, James Riady bought the Bank of Trade in California, the oldest Chinese-American bank. Not long afterwards, the U.S. federal government issued cease-and-desist orders for "hazardous lending" and for violations against the money-laundering statutes. Riady then promptly sold the bank.
James Riady moved to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and established Lippo Bank with the help of
Hong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
banker
John HuangA major figure in the 1996 United States campaign finance controversy, John Huang worked for Lippo Bank in California, Worthen Bank in Arkansas, and as deputy assistant secretary for international economic affairs in U.S...
. Again the bank lost a lot of money, made a number of bad loans, and violated laws of money laundering.
Together with
Jim Guy TuckerJames "Jim" Guy Tucker, Jr. is an Arkansas political figure. He served as the 43rd Governor of Arkansas, the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, Arkansas Attorney General, and U.S. Representative...
he established a company called AcrossAsia Multimedia Ltd. Tucker, another former Arkansas governor, had been forced to vacate the governor's mansion in 1996 due to alleged fraud in the Whitewater scandal. The two had met through Little Rock's Second Presbyterian Church. With AcrossAsia Multimedia they wanted to build the largest cable TV infrastructure in Indonesia using a company called Kabelvision. The venture was unsuccessful.
Controversies
Corruption controversies have marked Riady's business career. In the
1996 presidential campaignThe United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
, James Riady was a major
campaign contributorCampaign finance refers to all funds that are raised and spent in order to promote candidates, parties or policies in some sort of electoral contest. In modern democracies such funds are not necessarily devoted to election campaigns. Issue campaigns in referendums, party activities and party...
to the
Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. In 1998, the
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
conducted an investigation of
the finance scandal of the 1996 U.S. presidential campaignThe 1996 United States campaign finance controversy, also known as Chinagate, was an alleged effort by the People's Republic of China to influence domestic American politics during the 1996 federal elections....
. James Riady was indicted and pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations by himself and his corporation. He was ordered to pay an 8.6 million U.S. dollar fine for contributing foreign funds to the Democratic Party, the largest fine ever levied in a campaign finance case.
In 2008, Riady's close business associate Billy Sindoro, an executive of Riady's Jakarta-based First Media, was filmed handing bribes to officials of Indonesia's anti-monopoly agency, the KPPU. Riady and First Media were then in a business dispute with a Malaysian company and the KPPU was deliberating that dispute. Sindoro was later found guilty of corruption. In December 2008, the Riady-owned Jakarta Globe published a sympathetic portrait of Sindoro in prison where he lamented he would not be able to spend Christmas with his family.
In January 2010, the Washington Post revealed how the 'disgraced' Riady had received a visa waiver by the Obama Administration to re-enter the US, despite having been banned by the Bush administration. Riady's old friend, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton claimed she had no knowledge of the visa waiver. A State Department official, embarrassed by the Post's revelation, said "the reality of his past remains a significant obstacle for future travel to the United States." Riady received a waiver from a rule that forbids entry to foreigners guilty of "a crime involving moral turpitude," a term that government lawyers generally interpret to include fraud.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/04/AR2010010403106.html
James Riady lives with his family in Lippo Village,
KarawaciKarawaci is a subdistrict of Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia. It has an area of 13.475 km² and population of 150,574. Lippo Karawaci, a planned community, is located here.The subdistrict is divided into 16 administrative villages ....
, surrounded by security aides. He has been demonized by the media because of his involvement in the campaign financing scandal. Hendardi, an Indonesian human rights activist, once stated that Riady's "major achievement was to export corruption to the U.S."
Evangelical activities
Since converting to
ChristianityChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
in 1990, James has been an avid evangelical. He has established foundations, charities and Christian-inspired schools to spread the message in
MuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
-majority Indonesia. Inevitably, his zeal has clashed with
MuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
fundamentalists in the country. On 23 July 2001,
FortuneFortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
published an interview with the Lippo director in which he espoused his vision of converting poor villages to Christianity. The second biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia, the 28 million strong
MuhammadiyahMuhammadiyah is an Islamic organization in Indonesia. Muhammadiyah, literally means "followers of Muhammad"...
, quickly assembled mass protests and demonstrations against him..
He established a Christian university named Universitas Pelita Harapan (UPH). This university is one of the highest-quality schools in Indonesia, with a beautiful campus and high tuition rates. He recruits students from all around Indonesia to attend the school's "Teacher's College" on a scholarship program, training them to be teachers and sending them out to bring education to the remote areas of Indonesia. He is involved quite personally in this particular college, enforcing a strict code of discipline as well as requiring these students to attend weekly chapel and his own church. He is well-known at the university for his sermons at weekly chapel, in which he focuses extensively on Romans Chapter 8.
Arts interests
James is a serious collector of
paintingPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s and is known to have spent millions of dollars for a single work of
artArt is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
that he likes. Part of his vast collection can be seen on display in the UPH Painting Museum located on the 3rd floor of Matahari Towers in
Lippo KarawaciLippo Karawaci is a planned community in Tangerang, west of Jakarta, Indonesia. Previously a swamp area, it was opened in 1993 and is today a benchmark for Indonesia's "other" urban developments....
. It stores more than 700 paintings by both prominent national and international painters including
Raden SalehRaden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman is one of the best known painters from Indonesia and a pioneer of modern Indonesian art....
,
AffandiAffandi was born in Cirebon, West Java, as the son of R. Koesoema, who was a surveyor at a local sugar factory. Affandi finished his upper secondary school in Jakarta, but he forsook his study for the desire to become an artist. Affandi taught himself how to paint since 1934...
, A. Sudjono,
BarliBarlı is a village and municipality in the Quba Rayon of Azerbaijan. It has a population of 1,585....
, Wakidi, A.D. Pirous, Widayat, Zaini, Srihadi Soedarsono, Agus Djaya, Trubus,
Mochtar ApinMochtar Apin was an Indonesian painter.He was co-founder of the Gelanggang Seniman Muda movement in Jarkarta in 1946 and a member of the Bandung School...
,
Sudjana KertonSudjana Kerton was an Indonesian painter. Born at Bandung in the midst of political transition of the country from the Dutch colonial era to the independent republic of Indonesia, Kerton's paintings exhibited the revolutionary era of Indonesia...
, Ivan Sagito, But Mochtar, Hendra Gunawan, Dede Eri Supria, Nasiah Djamin, Walter Speis, R. Bommet, Willem Dooijewaard, J.D. Van Herwerden, etc.
Family
James Riady lives in Karawaci with his family. He is married to Aileen Hambali, and they have four children altogether: Caroline Riady Djojonegoro, John Riady, Stephanie Riady, and Henry Riady. His father is
Mochtar RiadyMochtar Riady is an ethnic Chinese financial magnate in Southeast Asia. He is the founder and CEO of Lippo Group. He is also the chairman of the Asian Bankers Association. Born on 12 May 1929, in Malang, East Java, Mochtar is known to have a cold hand at transforming the fortunes of financial...
, a prominent Indonesian businessman.
External links