Asian Godfathers
Studwell argues that greed, corruption and excess were partly responsible for the crisis and that Asia’s tycoons have long been beneficiaries rather than instigators of economic growth. — Read the complete FT review
Synopsis
The men who control the economies of South East Asia are unimaginably rich and powerful. They gamble at golf for $2m a hole. This is – for the first time ever – the explosive story of how they make, build and hold on to their fortunes.
Forty or 50 families control the economies of Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. Their interests range from banking to property, from shipping to sugar, from vice to gambling.
Thirteen of the 50 richest families in the world are in South East Asia yet they are largely unknown outside confined business circles. Often this is because they control the press and television as well as everything else. How do they do it? What are their secrets? And is it good news or bad for the places where they operate? Joe Studwell explosively lifts the lid on a world of staggering secrecy and shows that the little most people know is almost entirely wrong.
