IT all started with lunch one day at the end of 1991. At a Japanese restaurant in Jakarta, Charlotte Butler, a researcher from France, sat face to face with Ridwan Gunawan, a high-ranking official from PT Astra International. On the table next to their plates was a proposal. It was a study plan on Indonesian conglomerates, with William Soeryadjaya and Astra International as the first case study.

After lunch, Ridwan introduced Butler to Edwin Soery