[News Figures] Indonesia's Richest Man 'Prajogo'

'Prajogo' refers to Prajogo Pangestu (79), an Indonesian energy tycoon and chairman of the Barito Pacific Group. Chairman Prajogo's fortune is $53.8 billion (about 71 trillion KRW), ranking first in Indonesia and 24th worldwide.

According to Forbes' real-time billionaire ranking on the 11th, Chairman Prajogo rose to the top spot among Indonesian billionaires that day. Although Chairman Prajogo had been ranked within the top five Indonesian billionaires annually, this is the first time he has become the richest.

Chairman of Prajogo Pangestu.
[Photo by Barito Pacific Group website]

This is thanks to the soaring corporate values of the geothermal energy company 'Barito Renewable Energy' and the coal mining company 'Petrindo Jaya Kreasi,' which went public through an IPO this year, increasing his wealth tenfold in just one year.

Chairman Prajogo made his fortune in the 1970s through the timber business and diversified his ventures by acquiring the petrochemical company Chandra Asri in 2007. In 2011, he expanded his business by merging with Tri Polyta Indonesia, the largest petrochemical producer in Indonesia.

With Chairman Prajogo becoming number one, the coal king 'Low Tuck Kwong' (75), who was Indonesia's richest person last year due to a surge in coal prices and whose fortune was $26.9 billion (about 35.5 trillion KRW), stepped down to second place. Also, Robert Budi Hartono (82) and Michael Bambang Hartono (84), brothers and major shareholders of BCA Bank who had been considered Indonesia's richest for over ten years, fell to third and fourth place with fortunes of $24.2 billion (about 31.9 trillion KRW) and $23.2 billion (about 30.6 trillion KRW), respectively.

Chairman Prajogo's fortune was $5.3 billion (about 7 trillion KRW) a year ago but increased more than tenfold to $53.8 billion within a year. Last year, through his family company, Chairman Prajogo acquired one-third of the shares of the Thai energy company BCPG's geothermal power company Star Energy for $440 million (about 580 billion KRW), and the remaining shares were acquired through Barito Renewable Energy, a subsidiary of Barito Pacific Group, where he is the major shareholder.

Star Energy operates three geothermal power projects in West Java Province, Indonesia, and holds geothermal exploration rights in North Maluku Province and Lampung Province. On October 9, Barito Renewable Energy, which owns Star Energy, was listed, and its stock price surged more than tenfold compared to the initial public offering price by that day. On the 8th, it recorded a market capitalization of 1,077 trillion rupiah (about 91.2 trillion KRW), surpassing BCA Bank, the traditional market cap leader in the Indonesian stock market.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.