R.I.P. Michael Hartono

[serious_fun]

billionaire mogul dead at 86 years... will he be missed?

 

[Helpful Herbert]

I would hope that people who made their billions through cigarettes would use their fortune to perhaps build some hospitals or care for cancer victims?

 

[jstar]

Well, he started a Djarum Foundation and there were philanthropic projects and support. But just like with Astra, the investments in hospitals can be seen as rather opportunistic.

 

[pantaiema]

Like many Indonesian conglomerates, the Hartono brothers' success is often attributed to a unique domestic business environment in Indonesia that is difficult to replicate elsewhere. People who know Indonesia well, know what it is. It does not need to be spelled out.

While they started building their wealth on the Djarum cigarette empire, the bulk of their wealth come later from the 2002 takeover of Bank Central Asia (BCA). Their group, Farindo, picked up a 51% stake for just about Rp 5T far below its true value. The critics at the time including some big-name politicians and economists argued the bank’s total assets at that time were worth around Rp 100-200T and that the government who bailed out this bank basically sold it for pennies on the dollar. Even weirder? Other investors, supposedly put a higher bids, but the government (IBRA) went with the Hartono's family anyway.

There has not been any proof of bribery or actual charges filed against Michael Hartono Family. But the agency running the sale (IBRA) was famously drowning in its own large corruption scandals along with other BLBI cases.