Illiterate Coal Mogul's Fortune

Shaan tells a story about working for an illiterate Indonesian businessman who made hundreds of millions through coal trading arbitrage.

"I worked for this guy who was a dropout of 2nd grade and didn't speak English. When you walked into his office, there were 4 executive assistants, each with a giant TV screen showing his email. They would read emails out loud to him because he couldn't read or type, and he would just pace around dictating responses.

His genius plan was recognizing an arbitrage opportunity in Indonesia. US companies like ExxonMobil and BP wanted to do business there for coal, but you had to bribe local officials to get the leases. He would go bribe officials to get the leases, then sell them to these companies. He bought up huge amounts of coal for $2 million total and sold each piece for $20 million, amassing $500 million over 3 years.

He was uber liquid - if you did a good job with a negotiation or contract, you'd come into work and he'd just hand you keys to a BMW or Mercedes as a bonus. Everything was owned under 72 shell companies.

He didn't need to understand the technical details. When engineers or geologists would do surveys, he'd just tell them 'Make it very fit' for whatever purpose was needed. He ended up going to jail and dying there, but while I worked for him he was really good to us."