About Michael Hartono
Michael Hartono is 79 years old Indonesian business tycoon, entrepreneur and bridge player. He is well known for being the co-owner of Djarum Group, one of the three biggest makers of clove cigarettes in Indonesia and also for representing Indonesia in the Bridge tournament at the Asian Games held in Jakarta, Indonesia in August, 2018.
Early Life
Michael was born on 2nd October, 1939 in Kudus, Central Java, Indonesia as Michael Bambang Hartono to Goei Tjoe Nio and Oei Wei Gwan. He was raised in family with his younger brother Robert Budi Hartono, his co-partner in Djarum. He completed his early education in Kudus and later joined up Diponegoro University to do major in economics and business in 1959. Soon he made a return to his hometown upon his father’s death to inherit the company started by his father in the kretek field named Djarum Gramophon in 1951.
Career
Upon his father’s death, Michael and his brother inherited his father’s cigarette company, PT Djarum in 1963 which was almost destroyed in fire. The company was under deposits
when both brothers managed to rebuild the status of the company in market and upraise the situation of company from financial difficulties. They rebuilt and modernised Djarum by setting up a research and development center to create new kretek blends. In 1972, they started exporting their cigarettes followed by creating their first machine-made kretek, the Djarum Filter in 1976. Now they employ around 20,000 employees and take up 20% of all the amounts of cigarette produced in Indonesia every year.
In 1981, they next introduced the machine-rolled Djarum Super, which is one of the most popular brands of cigarette in Indonesia. Aside from family business, they also joined Farallon Capital, a San-Francisco based hedge fund, to buy 51 percent of publicly traded Bank Central Asia. He is also active investor in electronic appliances and property companies under their Djarum Group. In agriculture department, they have palm plantation region of 65,000 hectares located interior the province of West Kalimantan in 2008. All this count his position as 75th among the richest person in the world.
Personal Life
He is in marital relationship with Widowati Hartono and is father of four.
Net Worth
It is estimated to be around $10.7 billion as on October 2018.
