Jakarta –
Prajogo Pangestu is one of the richest people in Indonesia. During the era of the second President Suharto, he became a respected conglomerate in Indonesia.
If drawn from before his success, who would have thought that the man who was born on May 13, 1944 in Sambas, West Kalimantan was once just a driver for city transportation (angkot). Born into a poor family, it required him to only finish school until the junior high level (SMP) at that time.
His life is in contrast to the present where Prajogo Pangestu has become the 5th richest person in Indonesia. Reporting from Forbes, Friday (17/6/2022), his current net worth is US$ 5 billion or equivalent to Rp. 73 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,600).
The son of a rubber trader has a long story in starting his career. Had migrated to Jakarta to change his fate, but was not lucky because he never got a job and decided to return to his hometown.
When he returned, Prajogo Pangestu worked as an angkot driver. From that profession, he met and got to know a Malaysian timber entrepreneur, Bon Sun On alias Burhan Uray, in the 1960s.
From there Prajogo Pangestu’s career began, joining Burhan Uray at PT Djajanti Group in 1969. Thanks to his hard work and persistence, he was later trusted to become general manager (GM) at the Plywood Nusantara factory, Gresik, East Java after seven years of work.
He held the position for only a year and Prajogo Pangestu chose to start his own business by buying CV Pacific Lumber Coy, which at that time was experiencing financial difficulties. He paid for it with money borrowed from the bank.
On his way, Prajogo Pangestu changed the name Pacific Lumber to PT Barito Pacific. Then the business continued to increase until it began to go public in 1993.
Prajogo Pangestu’s business octopus is not only in the timber industry, its business extends to petrochemicals, crude palm oil, to property. In 2007 Barito Pacific acquired 70% of petrochemical company Chandra Asri, which is also traded on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).
Then in 2011 Chandra Asri joined Tri Polyta Indonesia and became the largest integrated petrochemical producer in Indonesia. Thaioil acquired a 15% stake in Chandra Asri in July 2021. They are said to be starting to develop a second petrochemical site in 2022.
Prajogo Pangestu’s latest move recently was to buy a 33.33 percent stake in Star Energy from BCPG Thailand for US$ 440 million or around Rp 6.29 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,300/US dollar). Reportedly, he bought through one of the privately owned companies, Green Era.
Prajogo Pangestu owns a 66.6% stake in Star Energy. Therefore, through the acquisition of the 33.33% stake, he now has full ownership of Star Energy, which has three geothermal projects in Indonesia.
The three Star Energy geothermal projects in question are the Wayang Windu PLTP, the Salak PLTP, and the Darajat PLTP, all of which are located in West Java Province.
(aid/dna)
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