William Soeryadjaya, a.k.a. Tjia Kian Liong (Chinese: 謝建隆; pinyin: Xiè Jiànlóng; Wade–Giles: Hsieh4 Chien4-lung2; 20 December 1922 – 2 April 2010), also known as Oom (Uncle) Willem, born in Majalengka, was a Chinese Indonesian businessman who co-founded Astra International, Indonesia's largest conglomerate.[1]

He lost his parents at the age of 12 and had to cease his education at 19.[2] But he continued his education in later years and studied at Leder & Schoenindustrie in the Netherlands.[2]

Soeryadjaya co-founded Astra, then a trading company, with his brother, Tjia Kian Tie, in 1957.[1] The company grew to become Indonesia's largest automobile retailer and the country's biggest company by market value.[1] The company, which also owns finance, plantation, auto parts manufacturing, heavy machinery and mining services and automotive businesses, sells Honda motorcycles, BMW, Daihatsu, Peugeot, Citroën and Toyota vehicles throughout Indonesia.[1] In March 2010, Astra overtook Telkom Indonesia to become Indonesia's most valuable company.[1]

Soeryadjaya lost control of Astra in 1992, when he sold most of his family's shares to rescue his eldest son's (Edward Soeryadjaya) Summa Bank,[3] which had suffered from a credit crisis and finally collapsed. He personally guaranteed all Summa Bank depositors their money back, and all depositors received their money back with interest without using any bailout package from the government at the expense of his ownership in Astra.[citation needed]

In 2009, Forbes magazine rated the Soeryadjaya family as Indonesia's 18th-wealthiest family.[1]

William Soeryadjaya died in Jakarta on 2 April 2010, at the age of 87 and was buried in San Diego Hills in the following days.[1]

Legacy

One of the buildings in Universitas Prasetiya Mulya's BSD Campus is named after him.[4] Universitas Kristen Indonesia also has a building called Graha William Soeryadjaya.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Berni Moestafa (April 3, 2010). "William Soeryadjaya, Astra Founder, Dies at Age 87". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  2. ^ a b "William Soeryadjaya, a Modest Businessman, Dies at 87". Jakarta Post. April 4, 2010. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  3. ^ "William Soeryadjaya, Revered Founder of Astra International, Dies Aged 87". Jakarta Globe. April 4, 2010. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  4. ^ Universitas Prasetiya Mulya. "Fasilitas Perkuliahan Kampus". Universitas Prasetiya Mulya (in Indonesian). Retrieved October 19, 2023.
  5. ^ Universitas Kristen Indonesia (October 19, 2023). "Acara Topping Off Graha William Soeryadjaya". Retrieved October 19, 2023.

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