James Riady
James Tjahaja Riady (; born 7 January 1957 in Jakarta) (also known as Lie Zen) is an Indonesian businessman and the deputy chairman of the Lippo Group, a major Indonesian conglomerate. One of the most prominent Chinese Indonesian businessmen, he is the son of Mochtar Riady, who founded Lippo Group. Lippo ceded its control of Lippo Bank to Khazanah of Malaysia in 2005. Since his conversion to evangelical Christianity, James is now focusing on the study of theology. Early life Riady studied at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Business activities Riady's entry into the American business community began in 1977, when he was persuaded by Arkansas banking moguls W. R. Witt and Jackson T. Stephens, and founders of Stephens Inc., one of America's largest investment banks outside of Wall Street, to become partners in the Stephens's Worthen Banking Corporation, after the younger Riady was sent by his father, Mochtar Riady, to set up a banking presence in the United States. Mochtar Riady was also interested in helping Jimmy Carter's former budget director, Bert Lance, sell stock he held in the National Bank of Georgia, though the deal never materialized. Through their dealings with Stephens Inc. the Riadys made the