Saturday, March 11, 2006

What's weird with Forbes' Indonesia rich list?

We knew from the Forbes that Rahman Halim and family (Gudang Garam) is the richest in Indonesia followed by R Budi Hartono (owner of Djarum Group), Putera Sampoerna, Aburizal Bakrie, Lim Sioe Liong (Salim Group), Eka Tjipta Widjaja (Sinar Mas), and Paulus Tumewu (Ramayana Group).
1) Rahman Halim = US$2.3 billion
2) Budi Hartono = US$2.2 billion
3) Sampoerna = US$1 billion
4) Aburizal Bakrie = US$735 million
5) Lim Sioe Liong = US$655 million
6) Eka Tjipta Widjaja = US$515 million
7) Paulus Tumewu = US$500 million

Is it true that Bakrie is wealthier than Lim or Eka? Eka's net worth in 1999 Forbes list was at US$2.5 billion. It's true that the company struggled with the crisis at Bank International Indonesia (BII) in 2001 and the huge bonds at Asia Pulp & Paper. But the company survived and aggresively expand its business in the last four years.
Could it be possible that Tumewu or Bakrie are richer than Sukanto Tanoto who has US$7 billion investment in Brazil and China?
"No way that Bakrie could match Sukanto. I would say Eka Tjipta is the richest for Indonesia," said one investment banker in Singapore.
Where is Hashim Djoyohadikoesoemo with his US$2.5 billion worth of oil and gas assets in Khazakhstan & Azerbaijan?
How about Mochtar Riyadi family with their Lippo Group? How about Peter Sondakh who got US$800 million in cash from the divestment of Excelcomindo to Telekom Malaysia?
How about Soeharto? Where is Soeharto family's money which Time magazine estimated at US$15 billion eight years ago? The Soehartos' net worth was put by Forbes at $1.7 billion in 1999 and $4 billion in 1998. I just can't believe the family's wealth had dropped to below US$500 million.
What about Sjamsul Nursalim?
While he once had US$3 billion debts to government and pledged some key assets like Gajah Tunggal (the largest tire manufacturer), GT Petrochem (petrochemical company), and Dipasena (the largest shrimp farm in Asia), I believe that Sjamsul regained control over two of these companies, not to mention other assets in Indonesia and Singapore.
So many questions I can't answer myself. But I tend to believe that the Forbes list could help some of Indonesian richests who still owe the state or those who bought back their pledged assets to keep away from tax officers or those who want to squeeze their money for various reasons.
Last year tax officers questioned Paulus Tumewu over his personal income tax. Tax officers claimed Tumewu had cost the state losses of Rp355 billion (US$40 million). But no further investigation since September 2005 as Tumewu left the country to Singapore for 'medical treatment'.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

i believe they dont want to be exposed as tax charger will tax on them. so many people out there who richer.

November 24, 2007 8:06 PM  

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