Soeharto

Suharto was born on Jun 8 1921. His parents were poor farmers in Kemusuk village in Central Java. In the 1940's he became the battalion commander in the Japanese "self defense corps" when Japan invaded and defeated the Dutch in World War 2. In the 1960's, he rose to power in relative obscurity as a middle ranking army officer after helping to crush an abortive but bloody leftist coup. In 1966, Suharto takes over temporary power as President of The Republic of Indonesia. Eventually, Suharto became the President of The Republic of Indonesia. In 1968, he developed a strong government party and his government, known as the New Order, restricted opposition and allied country with the West. In the 1960's, he started building the Suharto financial empire with the Salim Group and the Nusambra Group. His first big money-making venture was the Bogasari flour mills, which milled wheat imported from the United States. By the 1980's, Suharto's six children built their own empires which now included banks, automobile manufacturing and cigarettes manufacturing. For years, Suharto helped Indonesia's economic growth, as well as his own. Until, consumption and overextending the foreign debt finally caught up to Indonesia in 1997. Suharto got financial help from the IMF but most of the $43 billion went to Suharto's and his family's pockets. After riots over rising food and fuel prices, Suharto money empire was exposed and he eventually resigned May 21, 1998. Suharto's Empire lasted from 1967 to 1998. He is currently ranked as the sixth richest person in the world with an estimated personal wealth of $16 Billion US.