Like all of the interviews for my books you may find it strange that I find each one unique in different ways. This is the only interview where I was first interviewed by the subject and, having satisfied him of my bona fides, it is one of the most unusual interviews I have ever done. It extended over several hours as, once Ciputra got flowing with his life story, he did not want to stop. But, as he had many meetings that day, he took me to them and this allowed us to continue in ...

Rahul Bajaj who passed away at the age of 83 in 2022 had a larger than life personality and, like many of those who I have interviewed for my life story books, was a clear business thinker. He was Chairman Emeritus of the Bajaj Auto empire founded by his grandfather, Jamnalal Bajaj and which was developed to become one of the largest Indian auto groups during his and his father's generation. He was awarded India's third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan in 2001. Most...

Julius Tahija who died in 2002 at the age of 86 was an extraordinary man. As you will hear he followed a number of core principles which served him well throughout his life as a soldier (awarded the Netherlands Military Order of William during WW2 being that country's oldest and highest military honour) as a politician (holding several Ministerial posts in East Indonesia pre Independence) as a businessman as an investor in many businesses (via his holding company P.T. Austindo Nusantara...

Ela Bhatt was an absolutely extraordinary women who passed away in 2022 at the age of 89. The Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) she founded against strong opposition now has over 3.2 million members across 18 states in India. SEWA advances the rights of women workers in the informal economy such as those selling fruit and vegetables in the street. Not only did Ela have to fight long and hard to establish SEWA but that is not the only fight she had as it took many long years for h...

Following receiving his undergraduate and post graduate degrees in Maths and Statistics at Annamalai University in his birth State of Tamil Nadhu, a young Bala Balachandran followed the path of many bright young Indians in the 1960s and moved to the US where he had a very successful academic and management consulting career ending as Professor Emeritus of Accounting Information and Management at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (which was ranked the #3 U...

AVS Raju (born 1937) is certainly one of the most unique businessmen I have met. Not only is he obsessed with punctuality in a country where being on time is the exception rather than the rule but he is also a deeply spiritual man and a devout follower of the late His Holiness Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba who passed away at the age of 85 in 2011. So devout in fact that AVS has written over 17,000 short poems on this guru. When I interviewed AVS in 2007 his poems had been compiled to cre...

Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy (born 20 August 1946) is an Indian businessman. He is one of the seven co-founders of the leading global technology company, Infosys and was at different times its chairman, chief executive officer, president, and chief mentor before retiring and becoming chairman emeritus. Murthy has been listed among the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time by Fortune magazine. He has been described as the "father of the Indian IT sector" by Time magazine and CNBC for his c...

Professor Swaminathan died at the age of 98 in 2023. He was an extraordinary man and it is said his skills in genetic engineering and his powers of persuasion made famine an unfamiliar word in Asia. There is a memorable story of his encounter with the formidable Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who initially refused to allow him to take up what for him was the role of a life time as Director General of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. The few words of adv...

Sengham Phinith was born on 2 December, 1940 near the Lao capital, Vientianne. He trained as a civil engineer rising to Vice Minister of Construction before being falsely accused, dismissed and exiled to a remote region for four years. The way he dealt with this cruel experience is inspirational. On his release in 1988 he founded a civil engineering consulting firm. He passed away on 31 January, 2022. This chapter appears in my book, Added Value -the life stories of leading ...

Shahnaz Husain has built an enormous health care business from very humble beginnings starting in her New Delhi home. It is an extraordinary life where she was born into a conservative Muslim family, married at 15 and became a mother at 16, spent time in Tehran before being ordered to return to India by her father when he heard that Shahnaz and her husband might take up Iranian citizenship. That was when she started her business which was an immediate success. Her father did not a...

Vijaypat Singhania, often known as VPS, has led an extraordinary life which is unique in many ways. He was born into a prominent and successful Marwari "joint family" whose original business was founded over a century ago, experienced an unhappy childhood at the hands of a "wicked stepmother", was betrothed at 12 to his future wife who was 9 at the time and somehow managed to combine a career as an industrialist with his "addiction" or obsession with flying a huge range of aircraft from micro...

There is a chapter on U Nay Oke's life in my South East Asian Added Value book. However, I also interviewed U Nay Oke a few years ago for my Myanmar Oral History podcast ( https://myanmaroralhistoryprojectlifestories.buzzsprout.com) and, although it is a far longer interview than what is covered on the chapter on his life in the book, I thought you would find it interesting in providing an insight in the life of post WW2 life in Myanmar. For those who do not have time to listen to...

Okhna (Lord) Phu Kok An has had a remarkable life. He successfully navigated the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime and the life threatening risks of being killed by pirates when he was involved in the early days of smuggling goods from Thailand to Vietnam during the US trade embargo. He then moved into the cigarette business and for many decades has been the exclusive agent for BAT in Cambodia and now represents other famous brands such as Evian and Budweiser. Anco Brothers is now...

Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (often known as "GMR") is the founder and Chairman of GMR Group, a major Indian conglomerate with businesses in a range of sectors such as airports (e.g. Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa and Medan), Energy (a mix of coal, gas and renewables), Transportation (e.g highways), Urban Infrastructure and Aero Services - see https://www.gmrgroup.in/. My interview with GMR is contained within my book, "Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders" published by Roli boo...

I interviewed Eka Tjipta Widjaja around 1995 when he was in his mid 70s and had already started handing over day to day running of Sinar Mas (https://www.sinarmas.com/en/) to his sons. His was a remarkable life and I must admit I was amazed at the ingenuity and business acumen he demonstrated from an early age and how he worked his way through his early failures. This podcast covers his chapter in my book Added Value -the life stories of leading South East Asian business people pu...

Captain Krishnan Nair led an extraordinary life as you will hear from the excerpts I will read from the chapter on his life in Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders (published 2010 by Roli Books - https://rolibooks.com/). He founded The Leela Hotel Group (https://www.theleela.com/). Please note that these interviews took place some time ago - over 25 years ago in the case of the South East Asian life story book and around 10 to 15 years ago in the case of the two Indian li...

I have written three life story books - two on India and one on South East Asia. The first being Added Value - the life stories of leading South East Asian business people published in 1999 by Murmeli , the second being Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders published in 2010 by Roli Books (https://rolibooks.com/) and the third being Profiles in Enterprise - inspiring stories of Indian business leaders published in 2015 also by Roli Books. The books cover...

Henry Sy, the founder of SM Investments/SM Group (https://www.sminvestments.com/) started with a small shoe shop in Manila and built the business into the largest shopping mall business in the Philippines and China along with many department stores, supermarkets and grocery stores. The business also includes Banco de Oro and numerous real estate projects. At the time I interviewed him in 1998 his business was already massive but much of the growth was in the years after my interview and for a...

Yusuf Khwaja Hamied (born 25 July 1936) is Non Executive Chairman of Cipla (https://www.cipla.com/), a major generic pharmaceuticals company founded by his father Khwaja Abdul Hamied in 1935. I interviewed him around 2005 in his office in Mumbai. His story appears in my first Indian life story book, "Added Value - the life stories of Indian business leaders" which was published in 2010 by Roli Books (https://rolibooks.com/) Please note that these interviews took place some time ag...