Tycoons On Forbes’ 2020 List Of Indonesia’s 50 Richest Face Pandemic Headwinds

SINGAPORE (December 10, 2020) – More than half of the tycoons on the Forbes’ 2020 list of Indonesia’s 50 Richest saw their fortunes decline from a year ago amid the pandemic. Despite that, their collective wealth at US$133 billion was down only 1.2% from $134.6 billion previously. The complete list is available here as well as in the December editions of Forbes Asia and Forbes Indonesia.

As Indonesia’s Covid-19 cases crossed the half-million mark, the country slipped into its first recession since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Indonesia’s economy contracted 5.3% and 3.5% year-on-year in the second and third quarters, respectively, while the benchmark stock index fell more than 10% in the past 12 months.

R. Budi and Michael Hartono were among the minority that saw an uptick in their fortunes. They are now worth $38.8 billion and remain at No. 1, a spot they have held for a dozen years. Retaining the second spot on the list is the Widjaja family of the Sinar Mas group, who were the biggest gainers in dollar terms. They added $2.3 billion to their net worth, which is now at $11.9 billion. A weak petrochemicals market impacted Prajogo Pangestu’s wealth, which declined 21% to $6 billion, even as he remains at No. 3 for the second year.

Taking the fourth place is Anthoni Salim of the Salim group who saw a rise in his fortune to $5.9 billion from $5.5 billion last year. Sri Prakash Lohia of the Indorama group remains at the No. 5 spot with $5.6 billion, unchanged from a year ago.

The pandemic, a challenge for many, provided a boost to a few. Among them is Irwan Hidayat (No. 17, $1.55 billion), whose family’s Industri Jamu dan Farmasi Sido Muncul is Indonesia’s largest maker of herbal medicines. Shares of the company rose on higher sales of its products, such as popular cold remedy Tolak Angin, boosting his family’s wealth by 41%.

Media tycoon Eddy Kusnadi Sariaatmadja (No. 20), whose wealth is shared with his family, jumped nearly 80% to $1.4 billion, the biggest gain in percentage terms this year. Shares of his company, Elang Mahkota Teknologi (Emtek), soared as those housebound used more of its e-commerce and streaming services.

The three new fortunes on the list include those of siblings Wijono and Hermanto Tanoko (No. 39, $700 million), who control privately held paint company Avia Avian. Veteran banker Jerry Ng (No. 44, $600 million) also makes his debut after acquiring a stake last year in Bank Jago, which he plans to transform into a digital bank. Emtek cofounder Susanto Suwarto joins the ranks at No. 50 with $475 million, on the company’s rising shares.

Among the four tycoons who dropped off this year’s list are siblings Kusnan and Rusdi Kirana, whose airline Lion Air suffered as air travel nosedived. Altogether, 28 listees saw their fortunes fall in the past year.

This list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, annual reports and analysts. The ranking lists both individual and family fortunes, including those shared among relatives. Private companies were valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded. Public fortunes were calculated based on stock prices and exchange rates as of November 16, 2020, and adjustments may have been made for some stocks that are thinly traded or have a low public float.

For more information, visit www.forbes.com/indonesia.

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Forbes Indonesia is the Indonesian edition of Forbes, published under license by the media company PT Wahana Mediatama. Forbes Indonesia is published monthly and is in English. It features more than two-thirds original Indonesian-focused editorial content, written by a team of top local business journalists. The original copy is complemented by Forbes articles from the US and Asian editions of the magazine. Content includes profiles of Indonesia’s top tycoons to rising entrepreneurs, philanthropy, lifestyle and other topics of interest to a high-level business readership.

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