Ir.Ciputra
Among famous architects and property magnates in Indonesia, Ir. Ciputra is a big name with several property groups, philanthropy projects in education and also one of Forbes’ richest Indonesians. With wealth that worth around $1.3 billion, he is a perfect example of how difficult childhood and past life are not impediments for the resilient. His wealth mostly comes from his three property groups; Metropolitan Group, Jaya Group and Ciputra Group. He is also a holder of two records from MURI (Indonesian Museum of Records): as entrepreneur with the most awards in multiple fields and provider of the most entrepreneurship training programs for lecturers.
Ir. Ciputra and the Rising from Difficulties
Central Sulawesi born Ir. Ciputra experienced quite rough childhood, as his father was kidnapped by unknown troops in 1944 because of accusation as Japanese and Dutch spy. After years of living without father, he managed to finish his education until he got his Bachelor of Arts from Bandung Institute of Technology as an architect. He then established a contractor service with his friends, specialized in office buildings. However, he later moved to Jakarta and worked at Jaya Group, a Jakarta government owned office.
He worked there until he reached the age of sixty five, and got involved in Ancol development project. He then built Metropolitan Group with Sudono Salim, Budi Brasali, Suwdikatmono and Ibrahim Risjad, which then tackled projects of building luxury housing complexes such as Pondok Indah and Bumi Serpong Damai. He then later built Ciputra Group as the third property giant, as well as Bank Ciputra and insurance company Ciputra Allstate.
Monetary crisis in 1997 hit all his companies hard, until all of them must be closed. However, he managed to rise and reestablished his three property groups, as well as repaid all the debts. Now, not only his three property groups manage to survive, but he also plans to expand to other countries as well.