Indonesian business tycoons worth $40b
Indonesian business tycoons nearly doubled their net worth to $40 billion in 2007, Forbes business magazine reported yesterday, helped by soaring profits from coal, palm oil and paper.
Government Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie - whose net worth surged more than fourfold to US$5.4 billion on a stake in coal company PT Bumi Resources - topped the Forbes list of the 40 richest Indonesians.
The Bakrie family owns considerable infrastructure, property and telecommunications interests, but the largest contributor to its wealth in 2007 was a 600 percent rise in coal stocks, Forbes said.
The second son of former Indonesian President Suharto, Bambang Trihatmodjo, entered the list for the first time at number 33 with $200 million from his stake in conglomerate Mediacom.
Last year's richest Indonesian, Sukanto Tanoto, who owns one of Asia's largest pulp and paper companies and a leading palm oil producer, slipped to second place with a net of $4.7 billion, up from $2.8 billion last year.
Indonesia now has 11 billionaires, four more than in 2006, according to Forbes.
The magazine only considered individuals with at least $120 million in assets for the ranking.
Agencies
(China Daily 12/14/2007 page16)
