When news broke last month that Mr John Riady had been appointed to head Indonesia's biggest property and retail conglomerate, Lippo Karawaci, it came with an implicit challenge from group founder, Mr Riady's grandfather, Mochtar Riady, to disprove the old adage that fortunes are lost after three generations.

In Lippo's case, this would prove particularly challenging. In the months before the company announced Mr Riady's appointment, it was mired in a corruption scandal and suffered a series of credit downgrades.