10 Richest People in Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the giant economy in South East Asia and it has been experiencing a wonderful economic development for almost a decade, surpassing its neighbors in South East Asia. With the incredible development in economic sectors, Indonesia is now in the spotlight of the world. Dubbed as one of the major emerging economies, Indonesia economy is shifting to more industrialized and diversified sectors as can be seen from its group of business tycoons who are racing against each other to stay ahead in the competition. Some of the business tycoons are diversifying its fortunes to the latest startup trends such as e-commerce and other innovations in the country. This is the list of 10 richest business tycoons in Indonesia :

10. Tahir USD 2 Billion

       

Tahir was recently awarded the Bintang JasaUtama by President Joko Widodo for his contribution in the nation’s economic development. Tahir was famous for surviving the 1998 economic crisis. Its then-biggest investment Mayapada Bank, is one of the few banks who were able to survive the crisis. Tahir then sold Bank Mayapada in 2015 for USD 150 million and use the money to buy some properties in Indonesia and Japan. Tahir owns multiple businesses such as Medico, an online hospital management system.

By looking at the recent development of the economic condition in the country, there might be some additional new names to the list, especially after the rupiah consistent weakening throughout the year 2015 which surely hit even the biggest conglomerates in the country. But, I think it is safe to bet that the top two conglomerates will not change any time soon, as their primary source of money is from the tobacco industry, which is an unbelievably huge market in Indonesia.

9.  Mochtar Riady USD 2.2 Billion

MochtarRiady is the iconic business tycoon in Indonesia who founded the global conglomerate, Lippo Group. Today, the group is famously known as development company that has done some monumental projects in Indonesia. However, Lippo started as a commercial bank back in 1950. Lippo’s most recent initiative is MatahariMall.com, an e-commerce website whose ambition is to be the Alibaba of Indonesia. 

8.   Boenjamin Setiawan – USD 3 Billion

Dr. Boen is famous for its pharmaceuticals company, Kalbe Farma, a dominant player in the industry. Dr. Boen co-founded Kalbe Farma along with his six brothers. Kalbe Farma then grew to be Kalbe Group, a diversified group which focuses on the healthcare and food industry in Indonesia. Kalbe Farma’s medicine can be found in almost every drug stores, some of its famous brand are Promag and Extra Joss.

7.   Bachtiar Karim – USD 3.3 Billion

Bachtiar Karim generates most of its fortunes from being in the CPO (palm oil) business with its Musim Mas Group. Musim Mas was founded in 1932 by Bachtiar’s grandfather as a company which produces soap. Only then in 1988, Musim Mas started to diversify its business by entering the palm oil scene in Indonesia and has been known as one of the powerhouse in palm oil industry.

6.   Sri Prakash Lohia – USD 4.7 Billion

Graduated from University of Delhi with Bachelor of Commerce degree, Sri Prakash Lohia founded its money machine, Indorama with his father 40 years ago. Indorama is the giant in petrochemical industry in Indonesia. The Lohia family is a business tycoon family with other member of the family runs business giants in Thailand and India. Today, Indorama presents in several countries including Nigeria and Singapore. 

5.   Chairul Tanjung – USD 4.8 Billion

Few years ago, Chairul Tanjung was never in the radar of richest people in Indonesia. ChairulTanjung marks the start of itsentrepreneurship journey by founding a company that produce shoes for children, Tanjung co-founded the company with two other partners by using a bank loan of 150 million rupiah. Today, ChairulTanjung’s conglomerate group, CT Corp runs several businesses in the media, financial, food and fashion sectors.

4.   Eka Tjipta Widjaja – USD 5.3 Billion

Famous for its property giant, Sinarmas Group, Eka Tjipta Widjaja founded Sinarmas Group in 1962. Sinarmas operates in multiple sectors such as pulp & paper, real estate, telecommunications and mining. Sinarmas group recently acquired London’s iconic Alphabeta Building for USD 400 million. 

3.   Anthoni Salim – USD 5.5 Billion

Anthoni Salim is a self-made billionaire. Anthoni leads Salim Group to bounce back from the 1998 economic crisis in Indonesia. During the crisis, Salim Group was drowning in debt which forced Anthoni Salim to sell some of its businesses such as Bank Central Asia, the country’s largest private lender.

Today, Salim probably most well-known for its instant noodle product, Indomie produced by PT Indofood SuksesMakmur. Indomie is famous for its tasty instant noodle and has been consumed in several countries including USA, Australia and some European countries. Recently, Indofood has created another hype in the market by introducing Indomie-flavored chitato (potato chip snack).

2.   Susilo Wonowidjojo – USD 5.5 Billion

Susilo Wonowidjojo is the second generation of Wonowidjojo family, Susilo’s father Surya Wonowidjojo founded GudangGaram, a giant in Indonesia kretek cigarette industry. Despite its status as second richest man in Indonesia, Susilo’s wealth used to drastically decline during 2011 – 2014 due to scarcity of clove (main ingredients in kretek cigarette). Susilo lost USD 2 billion during that period. 

1.   Hartono Family – USD 15.4 Billion

Historically, Hartono family is most well-known from its kretek cigarette, Djarum.Budi Hartono and Michael Hartono inherited one of the leading kretek cigarette maker in Indonesia when they were in their early 20s. Djarum started as a small business in Kudus, Central Java. Djarum was the first cigarette maker in Indonesia to modernize its production process and use machine to produce its cigarettes.

Today, Hartono family is undoubtedly one of the most well-diversified conglomerates in Indonesia. The family runs countless businesses in multiple different sectors. The conglomerates’ presence are virtually everywhere, ranging from banking sector with Bank Central Asia, electronics through Polytron, to venture capital firm like GDP Venture, Hartono family runs it all. One of its recent initiatives is an e-commerce platform known as blibli.com.