Big drop for Bakrie on ‘Forbes’ rich list

JAKARTA. Forbes magazine welcomed five newcomers to its latest list of Indonesia’s richest people as Aburizal Bakrie slipped from the top 10 to 30th rank.

The newcomers included Achmad Hamami, the owner of local Caterpillar distributor Tiara Marga Trakindo, who made his bow in 10th place with a net worth of US$2.2 billion.

Also making the list for the first time was Djoko Susanto (25th), whose $1.04 billion fortune was made from PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya, the retail giant operating 5,500 stories under the Alfamart, Alfamidi and Lawson brands.

In 28th place with $940 million was newcomer Samin Tan, the owner of coal mining company Borneo Lumbung Energi, which bailed out the debt-troubled Bakrie Group by purchasing its 23.8 percent stake in London-listed Bumi Plc.

The fourth newcomer was Kuncoro Wibowo in 34th place with $730 million. Kuncoro owns PT Ace Hardware Indonesia, the country’s biggest home improvement retailer.

Kuncoro and his five siblings expanded their late father’s small hardware shops into businesses involved in trading, importing and distributing technical equipment.

The last newcomer to Forbes’ list was businessman Handojo Santosa in 40th place with $630 million.

Handojo inherited the Ometraco Group from his father and turned its subsidiary Japfa Comfeed into the second-largest poultry feed producer in the country, boasting an average sales growth of 21 percent over the last five years.

Justin Doebele, the chief editorial advisor for Forbes Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post that Soegiarto Adikoesoemo and Muhammad Aksa returned to the list after being dropped in earlier iterations.

Soegiarto, ranked 33rd with $770 million, sold his company, Sorini, the world’s second-largest sorbitol producer, to Cargill earlier this year for $247 million.

After the sale, Soegiarto turned to transforming AKR Corporindo into a nationwide petroleum and chemical logistics and distribution company. Soegiarto also builds and operates hotels in Bali and Manado under the aegis of property company AKR Land Development.

Muhammad, ranked 35th with $710 million, owns Bosowa Group, which sold a 23 percent stake in Nusantara Infrastructure to Peter Sondakh earlier this year.

He is now building a second cement factory in Maros, South Sulawesi, and has interests in agribusiness, including 100,000 hectares of rice fields in Papua.

Doebele said that the nation’s richest people — the Hartono brothers, Susilo Wonowidjojo and Eka Tjipta Widjaja — easily held on to their top spots in 2011, adding a combined $7.5 billion to their wealth — or more than half of the gains recorded by the nation’s wealthiest 40 people.

“The trio is now worth a staggering $32.5 billion, representing 38 percent of the list’s total wealth,” he said.

The Hartono brothers, Richard Budi and Michael, topped the list with a net worth of $14 billion, up $3 billion from last year, while Gudang Garam president commissioner Susilo Wonowidjojo was in second place with $10.5 billion, up $2.5 billion in the same period.

Eka Tjipta Widjaja, who at 88 is the oldest person on Forbes’ list, held onto his third-place slot with a net worth of $8 billion.

Widjaja’s palm oil concern Golden Agri-Resources remained his family’s most valuable holding.

The biggest loser on Forbes Indonesia’s list was possible 2014 presidential candidate Aburizal “Ical” Bakrie and his family, who were forced to sell their stake in Bumi to pay off debts, dropping from 10th place in 2010 to 30th in 2011.

“Bakrie’s fortune fell by $1.2 billion, or 57 percent,” Doebele said.

Elsewhere there was plenty of movement, as 22 list members added to their fortunes, another 11 slipped and 7 fell from the ranks entirely. (The Jakarta Post)