Indonesian Billionaire Who Increased Wealth Tenfold... Chairman Prajogo Worth '71 Trillion Won'

IPO Listing 'Blockbuster'
24th Richest Billionaire in the World

Indonesian billionaire Prajogo Pangestu (79), chairman of Barito Pacific Group, has risen to the top spot in the local wealth rankings. This surge is due to the listing of two companies through initial public offerings (IPOs) this year, which caused his fortune to increase more than tenfold within a year.

According to Forbes' real-time billionaire rankings on the 11th (local time), Prajogo's net worth reached $53.8 billion (approximately 71 trillion KRW), ranking first in Indonesia and 24th globally.

Chairman Prajogo [Image source=Captured from Barito Pacific Group homepage]

One year ago, Prajogo's net worth was $5.3 billion (about 7 trillion KRW), but it increased tenfold as the geothermal energy company he owns, Barito Renewable Energy, and the coal mining company, Petrindo Jaya Kreasindo, went public. The corporate value surged following the IPOs of Barito Renewable Energy and Petrindo Jaya Kreasindo, both owned by him.

Last year, Prajogo acquired one-third of the shares of the geothermal power company Star Energy from the Thai energy company BCPG for $440 million (about 580 billion KRW) through his family company, while 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, Indonesia, and holds geothermal exploration rights in North Maluku and Lampung provinces.

On October 9th, Barito Renewable Energy, which owns Star Energy, was listed. By that date, the stock price of Barito Renewable Energy had surged more than tenfold compared to its initial offering price.

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.

Prajogo began making money in the 1970s through the timber business and acquired the petrochemical company Chandra Asri in 2007. In 2011, he expanded his business by acquiring and merging with Tri Polyta Indonesia, Indonesia's largest petrochemical producer.

Low Tuck Kwong, who became Indonesia's richest person last year due to the surge in coal prices with a net worth of $26.9 billion (about 35.5 trillion KRW), was pushed to second place behind Prajogo. Additionally, the Hartono brothers, Hartono and Michael Bambang Hartono, the largest shareholders of BCA Bank, ranked third and fourth with $24.2 billion (about 31.9 trillion KRW) and $23.2 billion (about 30.6 trillion KRW), respectively.

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