Hong Kong and Southeast Asia are home to five hundred million people, yet their economies are dominated by only fifty families whose interests range from banking to real estate, shipping to sugar, gambling to lumber. At their peak, eight of the world’s two dozen richest men were Southeast Asian, but their names would not be familiar to most regular readers of The Wall Street Journal. A complex mythology surrounds these billionaires, but in Asian Godfathers, Joe Studwell finds that the facts are even more remarkable than the myths. Studwell has spent fifteen years as a reporter in the region, and he marshals his unprecedented sources to paint intimate and revealing portraits of the men who control Southeast Asia. Studwell also provides us with a rich and deep understanding of the broader historic, economic, and political influences that have shaped Southeast Asia over the past 150 years. Asian Godfathers is a riveting and illuminating book that lifts the curtain on a world of staggering secrecy and hypocrisy, and reveals—for the first time—who the leaders of one of the planet’s most important and tumultuous markets really are, why they got to the top, and how they keep themselves there.
Asian Godfathers
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"'Its clarity of expression will make it hard for even the most determined dreamers to refute... Implacable, cool, convincing and well-armed Spectator 'An astonishing book' Sunday Independent"
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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About the Author
Joe Studwell is the editor of the China Economic Quarterly (www.theceq.com). He lived and worked as a freelance journalist in Hong Kong and Beijing from 1991 to 2000. He is author of The China Dream (Profile, ISBN 978 1 86197 948 7).
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Studwell's Asian Godfathers challenges the mythos surrounding Li Ka Shing, Robert Kuok and a group of about 50 others, the economic kings of Southeast Asia he calls godfathers. Media consumers have been force-fed repeated helpings of stories about the godfathers as economic clairvoyants, captains of wealth creation, etc. Studwell demonstrates that the godfathers are creating little if any wealth in their areas of operation (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand)---that they are rather parasites, having gained monopoly access to limited resources (raw materials, port facilities, banking licenses) through guanxi with political cronies, maintaining it through bribery in various forms, and pocketing use fees.
The cover is sappy, but don't let that deter you--Studwell's book is well worth your time if you seek to better understand SEAsia.
The cover is sappy, but don't let that deter you--Studwell's book is well worth your time if you seek to better understand SEAsia.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book makes a very interesting read and offers a different approach to understanding the economy of a region: the author looks at these economies mainly through the business sector and avoids overloading the book with graphs, charts, tables, etc. It is an interesting story (although heavily studded with Chinese names). This may result in an incomplete picture, and the book is not quite academic, but this does not avoid it providing a relatively objective look on an important sector of this region's economy.
Studwell is very critical of the corporate sector of the SE Asian countries, including those of Hong Kong and Singapore. He traces the origins of the mostly ethnic Chinese businessmen and their companies from the colonial days to the present. He dismisses any notion of "Asian values" as the foundation for the success of these businesses and their owners, but rather attributes their rise to license-peddling, concessions, monopolistic practises, lots of graft, etc. One is reminded of Balzac's words: "every great fortune, of onknown origin, is usually the result of a crime". His comments on the banking sector are particulary scathing. The author explains that these businessmen are not the cause of this situation, but have merely adapted to a region-wide system of patronage and corruption held in place by the local politicos for hundreds of years to the present (much of it inherited from their colonial masters). The business leaders have saving graces: personally charming, they lead flamboyant lives and they obviously do contribute to their local economies (through employment and investment).
In spite of this, and the crisis of 1997-98 the SE Asian economies have sustained high levels of growth over the past two decades, which Studwell attributes mostly to multinationals, and the export prowess of small local firms, plus the hard-work of the average Asian.
The author's critique goes beyond mere anecdotes and history , as he affirms that the SE Asian corporate sector does not have the efficiency and productivity of the typical world-class company. The origins of these businesses leads to a focus on trading and short-term wheeling-dealing, without a clear strategy, technological strength and branded products. The companies are very much tied to the personality and/or the family of the main owners. Worst of all, they are lacking in transparency, corporate governance and their stock market practises are less than ethical.
Studwell's observations seem vindicated by the markets: since the 1994-97 peak the stock markets of these countries have not fully recovered, and the Hong Kong and Singapore indices are barely above their levels of 10 years ago.
As SE Asia acquires more economic stability it is logical to assume that per-capita income will rise and lead to stronger domestic economies, with less dependence on export-led growth. In this context Studwell is correct in insisting the the corporate sector of these countries clean up their act and become serious and sustainable contributors to their economies.
Studwell is very critical of the corporate sector of the SE Asian countries, including those of Hong Kong and Singapore. He traces the origins of the mostly ethnic Chinese businessmen and their companies from the colonial days to the present. He dismisses any notion of "Asian values" as the foundation for the success of these businesses and their owners, but rather attributes their rise to license-peddling, concessions, monopolistic practises, lots of graft, etc. One is reminded of Balzac's words: "every great fortune, of onknown origin, is usually the result of a crime". His comments on the banking sector are particulary scathing. The author explains that these businessmen are not the cause of this situation, but have merely adapted to a region-wide system of patronage and corruption held in place by the local politicos for hundreds of years to the present (much of it inherited from their colonial masters). The business leaders have saving graces: personally charming, they lead flamboyant lives and they obviously do contribute to their local economies (through employment and investment).
In spite of this, and the crisis of 1997-98 the SE Asian economies have sustained high levels of growth over the past two decades, which Studwell attributes mostly to multinationals, and the export prowess of small local firms, plus the hard-work of the average Asian.
The author's critique goes beyond mere anecdotes and history , as he affirms that the SE Asian corporate sector does not have the efficiency and productivity of the typical world-class company. The origins of these businesses leads to a focus on trading and short-term wheeling-dealing, without a clear strategy, technological strength and branded products. The companies are very much tied to the personality and/or the family of the main owners. Worst of all, they are lacking in transparency, corporate governance and their stock market practises are less than ethical.
Studwell's observations seem vindicated by the markets: since the 1994-97 peak the stock markets of these countries have not fully recovered, and the Hong Kong and Singapore indices are barely above their levels of 10 years ago.
As SE Asia acquires more economic stability it is logical to assume that per-capita income will rise and lead to stronger domestic economies, with less dependence on export-led growth. In this context Studwell is correct in insisting the the corporate sector of these countries clean up their act and become serious and sustainable contributors to their economies.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Solid reporting with a sense of history about many of the people behind Asia's economies. Good background of why and how but the "who" is what is compelling. Had hoped for even more gossip, but lawyers must have counseled care. But there is more than enough to be worth reading if you are involved in Asia or even just interested.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Needs an update and would prefer more individual detail
Somewhat out of date now but provides a good background summary of the history and events up until 2004. Read more
Published 28 days ago by Kevin R Yaxley
4.0 out of 5 stars
More than Just A Players' Book
A book about the rich and famous that really contains a story about South East Asia. Studwell rejects the racial explanation of SEA problems and instead pins most of the blame for... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Johan Sulaiman
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why startups in Asia are thin on the ground
Ever wondered why its difficult to get off the ground in Asia? Even for locals? So we know it's not just a question of adapting to the local culture? Read more
Published 12 months ago by Moon rabbit
3.0 out of 5 stars
Rambling yet Informative description of pre 1997 SE Asian markets
Studwell's book on Asian "godfathers" is an interesting read and good analysis of the structure of southeast Asian economies. Read more
Published on December 12, 2010 by gubo8888
4.0 out of 5 stars
Informative and Insightful
Joe Studwell's "Asian Godfathers" is written in a clunky academic style, and takes some time to get into but it's really worth the read. Read more
Published on June 29, 2010 by Jiang Xueqin
4.0 out of 5 stars
Information overload.
There was just so much information here and so many names that it is not possible to keep it all straight (or even read it intelligently). Read more
Published on April 5, 2010 by Lemas Mitchell
4.0 out of 5 stars
BEHIND THE SCENES
Journalist Joe Studwell takes us behind the scenes and details how about fifty families have dominated the economic, historic and political aspects of the South Asian countries for... Read more
Published on January 31, 2010 by Joseph H. Race
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book with Predictive Power About Asian Economies
I will have to be brief: wrote a detailed review, only to see it disappear with pressing the back button after going to the Real Name section for some editing ! Read more
Published on April 24, 2009 by Athar Mian
5.0 out of 5 stars
I wish I'd read this book before I invested in SE Asian and China
I worked in Singapore in the 90's, and have kept up links with SE Asia ever since, although I have been based in the UK. Read more
Published on November 15, 2008 by S. Hemingway
3.0 out of 5 stars
Deromanticizing can go too far
The word Mr. Studwell adopts for his title, "godfathers," has of course acquired its relevant connotations from a classic novel by Mario Puzo and the subsequent motion-picture... Read more
Published on August 28, 2008 by Jamesian
