Mochtar Riady

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Mochtar Riady (李文正) is a 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 May 12th 1929 in Malang, East Java, Mochtar is known to have a cold hand at transforming the fortunes of financial institutions. He was recruited by another magnate, Lim Sioe Liong, in 1975 to replicate his achievement in developing Panin Bank to be Indonesia's largest private bank in Lim's BCA bank. At the time of his appointment at BCA, the bank's asset was Rp 12.8 billion. By the time he left BCA in 1990, it was already a juggernaut institution with assets valued at more than Rp 5 trillion.

Convinced that he had what he need to walk his own road, he formed Lippo Group. Over the years, the group diversified in financial services (banking, investment, securities, insurance, asset management and mutual fund), property (satellite cities, housing, condominium, shopping malls, office buildings, and industrial sites), and infrastructure (power plants, gas production, roads, sanitation, and communication), which is largely handled by Lippo Hong Kong, controlled by his son Stephen Riady.

In one of his pet projects, Lippo Karawaci, where he also reside along with son James Riady, he built Gleneagles Hospital from Singapore, Sekolah Pelita Harapan, and Supermal along with world class facilities.

In 1996, Lippo Group acquired 50% of retailer Matahari owned by Hari Darmawan.

He has made substantial donations to the DNC. According to CNN "President Clinton met twice with Riady at the White House, and belatedly acknowledged receiving a detailed letter from him that pressed Clinton to establish formal relations with Vietnam and to renew most-favored-nation trading status with China, among other issues."

His son, James Riady, is the deputy chairman of the group.