His father, a reporter, had established a magazine company, which was shut down by the Suharto regime, resulting in A.G. Tanjung having to sell the family's large house and cars to cover debt, and the family moved into a small apartment.

While studying, he and his two friends opened a shop that originally sold books and T-shirts, and expanded to sell medical equipment.

In his spare time, Chairul conducted business until graduating from dentistry school, and establishing PT CT Corp with a loan of Rp150 million from Exim Bank.

They produced children's footwear and received an order from Italy for 160 pairs of shoes, but a month later, Chairul split from his two friends because a disagreement over the business.

His holding company is CT Corp., formerly Para Group, with 3 sub-holdings:[4][5][6] Chairul Tanjung served as head of Badminton Association of Indonesia from 2001 to 2004.