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Welfare minister tops Indonesia's rich list
Aburizal Bakrie, the coordinating minister for people's welfare, tops the 2008 list of richest Indonesians with a total net worth of US$9
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Aburizal Bakrie, the coordinating minister for people's welfare, tops the 2008 list of richest Indonesians with a total net worth of US$9.2 billion, an eightfold increase from last year on the back of rising global commodity and energy prices, a report says.
PT Bumi Resources, the country's largest mining company, owned by the Bakrie family, has seen its share price increase 400 percent over the past year as global demand for coal has surged, according to a report by GlobeAsia magazine released Monday.
Shares of PT Bakrie Sumatra Plantations and PT Energi Mega Persada, entirely or partly owned by the Bakrie family, have also risen over the past year.
Aburizal, who was named Indonesia's richest person in 2007 by Forbes magazine, looks set to expand his fortune with plans to acquire controlling stakes in three affiliated companies, putting his mining, energy and property interests into one holding company.
Aburizal has faced criticism over the role mining company PT Lapindo Brantas, whose shares are partly owned by the Bakrie family, played in triggering a mud volcano in Sidoarjo in East Java that has left thousands homeless.
Following Aburizal on GlobeAsia's rich list is tobacco billionaire Budi Hartono, the owner of PT Djarum Company, with a total net worth of $6.8 billion.
Budi has expanded beyond tobacco, taking over a majority of shares in Bank Central Asia, which booked a net profit of Rp 1.2 trillion ($129 million) in the first quarter this year, a 8.4 percent increase from the same period in 2007.
The top newcomer to the list is Martias, owner of First Resources, who had reaped windfall profits from his palm oil business.
Martias has a total net worth of $410 million.
Sandiaga Uno, chairman of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association, is one of the country's fastest rising young entrepreneurs, the magazine said.
Sandiaga, who has a total net worth of $245 million, in 1998 co-founded private equity firm Saratoga Capital, the major shareholder of coal miner PT Adaro Indonesia and the controller of two plantation companies with a total of 20,000 hectares of land.
