Chairul Tanjung is a man who born in June 16 1962 in Jakarta, He is a successful entrepreneur and becoming one of the richest people in Indonesia. He is coming from a modest family, and he started doing business since his college days at UI(Universitas Indonesia). In 1987, he founded CT Corp which grew rapidly through the acquisition of Bank Mega and the establishment of Trans TV and Trans7.
After college, Chairul founded PT Pariarti Shindutama with three of his colleagues. With an initial capital of IDR 150 million from Exim Bank, they produce children's shoes for export. Luck sided, the company immediately received an order for 160,000 pairs of shoes from Italy. However, due to different visions about business expansion, Chairul chose to separate and set up his own business. His expertise in building networks and as an entrepreneur, makes his business grow.
Directing his business towards conglomeration, Chairul repositioned himself across three core businesses: finance, property and multimedia. In the financial sector, he took over Bank Karman which was the forerunner of Bank Mega. He named the company the Para Group. This conglomerate company has Para Inti Holdindo as the father holding company, which is in charge of several sub-holding companies, namely Para Global Investindo (financial business), Para Investindo (media and investment), and Para Inti Propertindo (property).
Under the Para Group, Chairul has a number of companies in the financial sector, including Mega General Insurance, Mega Life Life Insurance, Para Multi Finance, Bank Mega, Mega Capital Indonesia, Bank Mega Syariah, and Mega Finance. Meanwhile, in the property and investment sector, the company is in charge of Para Bandung Propertindo, Para Bali Propertindo, Batam Indah Investindo, and Mega Indah Propertindo. In the broadcasting and multimedia sector, Para Group owns Trans TV, Trans7, Mahagagaya Perdana, Trans Fashion, Trans Lifestyle, and Trans Studio.
Especially in the property business, Para Group owns the Bandung Supermall. Then, in the investment sector, in early 2010 Para Group through its subsidiary, Trans Corp bought most of Carefour Indonesia's shares, amounting to 40 percent. In 2010, the renowned magazine Forbes ranked Chairul as one of the richest people in the world. He is at number 937 with total assets of US $ 1 billion.
The reason CT is a bureaucrat
Chairul himself received the first news that he would become Coordinating Minister for the Economy when he was on a trip to Myanmar with Hatta Rajasa. "I was surprised that Pak Hatta said that he would resign. I asked him why not after registering to just resign. He said that due to the rule a week before, he had to resign, "CT said as reported by Kompas.com.
After considering it, he finally accepted the offer. "First, because duty calls. The second reason is because Pak Hatta and I have been friends for more than 20 years, ”he said. CT said that the Coordinating Ministry for Human Rights had a long history for him. He said that the building was formerly the Ministry of Finance building.
“During the Pak Harto era, one of the ministers, Pak Mar'ie Muhammad and I happened to be close to him, and practically this building is my second office. So I kind of understand fiscal matters, state finances and all that. That was far from about 20 years ago. So, apparently that history also makes me have to go back, "he predicted.
Today, the boss of the Trans Group is believed to have a net worth of US $ 4.9 billion or equivalent to Rp.69.62 trillion (exchange rate Rp.14,200).
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