Jakarta –
Did you know that before establishing CT Corp, Chairul Tanjung was in the sandal industry? Yes, the first PT that he founded with his two colleagues was even originally planned to be a shoe factory, not sandals.
The first PT was founded in 1987. Even a few moments before, CT had just suffered heavy losses as a contractor in a chopstick factory construction project in the Citeureup area, where the project failed due to the bankruptcy of the owner.
“God, how is this? All my money was invested in all of these developments,” wrote CT in his book, Chairul Tanjung Si Anak Cassava.
Not only that, he has sold almost all of his assets, including his personal vehicle, the 1981 Honda Accord sedan.
Even so, at the same time he also got a job renovating a shoe factory in Kapuk Muara, which is owned by the shoe owner Kasogi. CT said that from there he met Michael Chiam, a Singaporean technical assistant.
Unexpectedly, it was Chiam who helped CT to establish his own shoe factory by providing recommendations for calculating the capital for the factory construction.
“At that time, I thought, this was a new challenge to complete the construction of a chopstick factory in Citeureup which was stuck in the middle of the road.
It didn’t stop there, apparently the owner of the chopstick factory, Mr. Wong, was still kind enough to give him the unfinished factory. The building is valued at IDR 50 million, where he uses this price as capital representing his share ownership in the PT that he will build with his two colleagues who each pay IDR 25 million.
“Meanwhile, two other friends, namely Untung Sentausa, who was originally a partner with Kasogi shoes and Aris Mulyono, who is now deceased, each owns 25 percent of the shares. Thus, the three of us started partnering in the new factory with a composition of 50:25:25 ,” said CT.
From there, in 1987 it was the first time he founded PT. For the first time, CT ventured to borrow Rp 150 million from a state bank, namely Bank Exim (Export Import).
“How much do I borrow? It’s not half-hearted, it’s Rp. 150 million. A value that is not at all small for people under 30 years old like me at that time,” said CT.
The story continues with Michael Chiam who started to design shoes, children’s shoes to be precise. CT said that they sent some samples to prospective buyers in Europe and America. A month and two have passed without any clarity of news, not even an incoming order.
“The pinnacle of clerics’ aspirations arrived. Orders arrived, but not shoes, but sandals. Beach sandals were very popular in the European market at that time. Only 12,000 pairs were the initial order,” said CT.
CT said that from there the spirit of he and his colleagues began to resurface. It didn’t stop there, because they were satisfied, the foreign buyers finally made repeat orders. Even unmitigated orders jumped to 240,000 pairs. CT also ventured to come back to Exim Bank to make another loan.
“This time with an order of 240,000 pairs of sandals with a letter of credit (L/C) with a selling price of 1.10 US dollars per pair. Alhamdulillah, export credit has been issued from Exim Bank,” said CT.
Time went on and on from what was initially only one factory, said CT, to two, factories, three factories, and so on, until finally we had our own industrial area.
“Around 1991 to 1992, at that time there were 4 factories and an industrial area under the umbrella of the parent named Para Group. In 1994, I began to decide to leave the industry, run alone, and not partner with others,” he added.
With such a historical background, Chairul Tanjung has now succeeded in being ranked the 6th richest person in Indonesia according to Forbes records in 2021. He has also pursued various businesses in various sectors until he was able to establish CT Corp. Forbes noted that CT’s total wealth currently reaches US$ 6.5 billion or equivalent to Rp. 96.45 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,838.85).
Curious about other CT inspirational stories? detikers can get that opportunity, you can do it by opening the website on this link. Then at the top right of the page there will be two options Download E-Book and Download E-Book & Meet CT.
Click Download E-Book and Download E-Book & Meet CT. To log in, make sure you already have an MPC account or as a customer of Allo Bank.
Login, enter your MPC or Allo Bank account phone number and password. For those who want to download the e-book and register for the “Dinner and Dialogue with Chairul Tanjung” event, they must have Allo Prime and answer questions on the registration form.
After answering the questions, the e-book can be downloaded immediately. Meanwhile, the announcement of people who have the opportunity to have dinner with CT will be announced Monday, July 25, 2022.
To remember, the opportunity to have dinner and chat with CT is only for selected 60 people. Invitations are for one person only and are not transferable.
For 60 selected participants on July 28, 2022, they must re-register at the Lobby of the Transmedia Tendean Building, South Jakarta at 16.00 WIB and take part in the entire series of events that have been determined.
(dna / dna)
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