Ika Krismantari, Jakarta – The regional stock market collapse, tumbling commodity prices and the fall in the value of the local currency have taken a toll on the country's 40 wealthiest people this year with their wealth plummeting, according to US-based Forbes magazine.
A survey from Forbes reveals that the net worth of the wealthiest Indonesians plunged by almost a half to only US$21 billion in total, compared to $40 billion last year.
"Fortunes in Indonesia have collapsed with the global economy, pushed down by a dismal stock market, plunging commodity prices and a weak rupiah," Forbes said.
Powerful tycoon Sukanto Tanoto, whose empire includes oil palm plantations and pulp and paper factories, reclaimed the crown of Indonesia's richest person this year, outstripping Aburizal Bakrie and family, who fell to ninth place.
According to Forbes, Sukanto is estimated to have wealth of $2 billion, down from $4.7 billion last year on the back of falling prices of pulp and palm oil.
His flagship Raja Garuda Mas International (RGMI) has businesses in China, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and the Philippines. The politically wired Sukanto, who spends more of his time in Singapore and China than in Indonesia, also runs oil palm grower Asian Agri Group, oil company Pacific Oil & Gas, and paper producer Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd.
RGMI spokesperson Ketut Wirabudi said the company doubted the findings of the Forbes report as the firm's assets had actually plummeted by 70 percent, not to mention debts. He refused to cite any exact figures.
"Maybe the survey is based on net assets, not net wealth. If they are using net assets, the value has already declined by 70 percent. The survey seems to exclude debts as well," he said.
While having his treasure chest possibly guarded by leprechauns Sukanto and his Asian Agri are currently under investigation by the tax office for an alleged evasion of tax that may have caused state losses amounting to an estimated Rp 1.3 trillion (US$115 million).
Forbes also declares the Hartono brothers – Budi and Michael – as second and third richest respectively. The brothers own the country's third largest clove cigarette maker PT Djarum and controlling shares in Bank Central Asia, the nation's second largest lender by asset. However, the brothers also suffered a decline in their fortune by almost 50 percent.
The Bakrie family, who last year took the top spot from Sukanto, held net wealth of only $850 million this year, plunging from an estimated $5.4 billion last year, according to Forbes.
Shares in the family's crown jewel company PT Bumi Resources, the world's largest thermal coal exporter, have dropped by 90 percent in the past six months.
"I'm no longer on the list (of the richest) due to the financial crisis in the United States," said Aburizal, the head of the Bakrie family and also Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare.