http://members.forbes.com/global/2006/0918/063.html
Indonesia's 40 Richest
Justin Doebele, Chaniga Vorasarun and Forbes Indonesia Staff 09.18.06
FORBES ASIA's kickoff list of the 40 richest Indonesians reveals the emerging
nation's biggest asset: its people. Indonesia is the fourth-most-populous
country in the world, with 230 million folks who call its 17,500 islands home.
As a result, more than half of Indonesia's Rich Listers made their fortunes
catering to the mass market.
Billionaires Rachman Halim, R. Budi Hartono and Putera Sampoerna all rank in
the top five and made their fortunes selling kreteks, the cigarettes that
contain a combination of cloves and tobacco. Indonesia's top real estate mogul,
Trihatma Haliman, amassed $900 million selling apartments throughout Jakarta.
Then there are the consumer goods that are household names in Indonesia: Wing
Biru laundry detergent, sold by Eddy William Katuari's Wings Group; Indomie
instant noodles from Liem Sioe Liong's Indofood; and Soegiharto Sosrodjojo's
Teh Botol Sosro tea, a top-selling bottled beverage.
Still, the combined net worth of all these magnates is $22 billion and trails
the $28 billion held by the 40 wealthiest in Singapore.
Indonesians are also going after the country's natural resources. The other two
in the top five, Sukanto Tanoto and Eka Tjipta Widjaja, worth $2.8 billion and
$2 billion respectively, built fortunes turning Indonesia's trees into paper
and pulp. Number 14, Martua Sitorus, is banking on the promise of Indonesian
palm oil as a biological source of fuel through his listed Wilmar
International. A minimum of $80 million was needed to be included on
Indonesia's 40 Richest.
Unlike FORBES' annual billionaires list, this ranking is broadened to include
fortunes shared among family members. To compile it FORBES ASIA looked at
shareholdings in both public and private companies. We calculated the values of
publicly traded holdings using recent share prices and exchange rates and
estimated what private companies would be worth if they were public.
The FORBES INDONESIA staff includes Shoeb Kagda, Albertus Weldison Nonto, Ishak
Rafick, John Riady, Reiner Simanjuntak and Yus Husni M. Thamrin.
