Indonesia's super rich getting wealthier

WITH an expanding economy and robust commodity prices, the country's
ultra-wealthy are quickly getting wealthier, business magazine
GlobeAsia's list of the 150 richest Indonesians shows this year.

On GlobeAsia's 150 Rich List this year, more than 90 per cent of those listed saw their fortunes rise over the past year.

GlobeAsia, a sister publication of the Jakarta Globe, reports in its
June issue that for the second year running, Eka Tjipta Widjaja, the
powerful patriarch of the Sinar Mas Group, topped the list with a net
worth of US$12.5 billion (RM39.7 billion). That was US$500 million
(RM1.6 billion) higher than his net worth in 2011.

"Sinar Mas
owns the world's fourth-largest pulp and paper company and the
fifth-largest palm oil plantation, and in property, it has cash,
landbanks and expertise to expand aggressively," said a hedge fund
owner familiar with the group.





This year's list had 24 billionaires, most of whom built their fortunes on natural resources, particularly palm oil and coal.

A.H.K Hamami, 76, the founder of heavy-equipment company Trakindo
Utama, achieved his cash haul by listing his coal and energy company,
ABM Investama.

Another notable on the list was media tycoon
Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who created the country's biggest media company,
Global Mediacom, of which share price rose by 120 per cent over the
year.

Media tycoons were the flavour of the year. Apart from
Hary, brothers Eddy and Fofo Sariaatmadja, the owners of television
station Surya Citra Televisi also saw their net worth soar with a 200
per cent rise in their company's share price.

Hary, Eddy and
Fofo could represent the future of the country's top earners, as
relative wealth creation shifts from natural resources to consumer
services, said Tom Lembong, the founder of private equity firm Quvat
Management.

"With a fast-growing middle-class, advertising
spending is suddenly growing by between 20 per cent and 25 per cent
annually, a boom for media companies," he said. "This trend also
applies to other domestic consumer-related sectors such as property,
retail and financial services.

"Commodities and natural
resources have gone up very sharply over the past five years but could
plateau over the next few years," he added.

"There are
questions over whether the commodities supercycle is flattening out,
but it would be a huge boost to consumers if raw materials prices
stopped increasing or even fell a bit."