Indonesia’s rich list stacked with palm oil billionaires
Forbes’ annual catalog of the country’s wealthiest people reads like a who’s who of the palm oil industry tycoons and represents an example of wealth being unusually concentrated to a few oligarchs. Fourteen of the 32 Indonesian billionaires identified by Forbes magazine are palm oil tycoons, having accumulated their wealth at least in part through the industry. That includes six of the country’s 10 richest, and 12 of its wealthiest 20. They are Budi and Michael Hartono; Susilo Wonowidjojo; Anthony Salim; Eka Tjipta Widjaja; Chairul Tanjung; Murdaya Poo; Theodore Rachmat; Putera Sampoerna; Peter Sondakh; Sukanto Tanoto; Martua Sitorus; Ciliandra Fangiono; Prajogo Pangestu; and Bachtiar Karim. Almost all of these men established themselves as members of the Southeast Asian nation’s oligarchy during the 33-year reign of strongman President Suharto, who fell in 1998. During the palm oil boom of the 2000s, Indonesia surpassed Malaysia to become the world’s top producer of the commodity. So too did the number of Indonesia’s billionaires rise during the decade, from two to 11.
