R. Budi Hartono is a Chinese Indonesian tobacco billionaire. Together with his brother Michael Hartono, he owns and operates Djarum, a clove cigarette manufacturing company. The duo also owns 75% of cigarette paper manufacturer Tjiwi Kimia and nearly 40% of publicly traded pulp producer Indah Kiat. Tobacco has been good business over the past year as R. Budi’s personal fortune surged $3 billion on soaring Gudang Garam shares.
Biography
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | R. Budi Hartono |
| Date of Birth | April 18, 1941 |
| Nationality | Indonesian |
| Net Worth | Estimated at $37 billion (as of 2024) |
| Primary Source of Wealth | Djarum (Tobacco), Bank Central Asia (BCA), Retail, Technology, Real Estate |
| Company | Djarum, Bank Central Asia (BCA) |
| Founded Djarum | 1950s (family business), R. Budi Hartono took over in the 1960s |
| Position in Djarum | Owner, controlling shareholder |
| Family | Married with children, including Lukman Hartono (son) |
| Son | Lukman Hartono |
| Children | Several children, though they maintain a private lifestyle |
| Height | Not publicly disclosed |
| Age (as of 2024) | 83 years old |
| Business Interests | Tobacco, Banking (BCA), Retail, Technology, Real Estate |
| Lifestyle | Private, discreet lifestyle with luxury homes and estates in Indonesia and abroad |
| House | Believed to live in an upscale area in Jakarta, Indonesia, with several other properties in Indonesia and internationally |
| Philanthropy | Involved in charity work but keeps a low profile |
R.Budi Hartono was born April 18, 1941, in Semarang, Indonesia. He and his brother Michael inherited a family business upon their father’s death in the late ’60s, and they have been working successfully with it ever since.
The fact is that the Hartono family had already been in control of tobacco interests for many generations before R.Budi showed up, but undoubtedly he can be given credit for transforming it into an empire.
Budi Hartono’s business acumen saw him diversify the majority of his tremendous wealth in overseas investments in industries including banking, property, and electronics; varied estimates pegged his net worth over the years as being in the multiple billions.
Table of Contents
Net Worth
As of 2024, R. Budi Hartono’s net worth is estimated at $37 billion, and he is one of the richest people in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. He made his fortune through the success of Djarum, a sprawling tobacco conglomerate that he owns with his brother.
The Hartono family has also spread their investments across a number of other successful businesses, such as banking, where they own Bank Central Asia (BCA), one of the largest private banks in Indonesia.
It would indeed be their company’s tobacco business in Kudus, Central Java, that generates most, if not all, of their wealth now. However, the primary reason why their wealth kept enduringly growing for decades was because they are some really good businessmen investing in maiden companies in subsidiaries after subsidiaries.
Business Venture
Djarum is an Indonesian kretek (clove cigarette) brand/manufacturer founded [citation needed] in 1950 by Oei Wie Gwan, whose family had been in the tobacco industry since 1880. Originally a small-scale manufacturer of hand-rolled kretek, at the end of the 1960s, Djarum had become the largest producer of machine-rolled kretek. The company was estimated in 2012 to have a market share of 21%.
The original Djarum clove cigarettes (kretek) were first created in 1951 and are sold primarily in Indonesia.[1][better source needed] Filtered versions are available in ‘Merah,’ ‘Biru,’ or ‘Hijau.’ Unfiltered clove cigarettes are known as “Dji Sam Soe,” introduced in early/mid-1970s, raising their popularity as being the most sought-after very-high-nicotine content tobacco blend today.
In the 1970s, this reach extended to private enterprise, with the Hartono brothers acquiring Djarum, a large kretek manufacturer founded in 1951, several years after they bought cigarette manufacturing company PT Andjaya Djaja based in Kudus. In addition, Robert Budi Hartono also purchased Bentoel Group and Bank Ekspor Impor as part of his plan to build an empire; under
‘Robert Budi Hartono’ was ranked 9th this year. The cigarette operation became hugely successful and by the mid-‘80s had around 40% market share of world sales; that figure has been estimated at around 90% as of March 2018, but more likely it is around fifty percent.
Wife
R. Budi Hartono is married with children, but he is one of those people who manages to keep his private life very private, and not much information has ever been released about his wife or children, as he likes to keep them away from the limelight.
His son Lukman Hartono has occasionally featured in some press articles concerning the family’s business interests, although it is not confirmed what involvement Lukman actually has within their corporate empire.
Company
The Hartonos have kept a low profile, but they still own and run Djarum Group and Bank Central Asia, which have only grown stronger under their leadership. Today, the Hartonos are one of the richest families in Indonesia.
Djarum Group is still R. Budi Hartono’s primary source of wealth, but he’s diversified beyond tobacco. Over time, the family has built a portfolio of businesses that now spans multiple industries.
- Banking: Longstanding major stakeholders in Bank Central Asia (BCA), the Hartono family became multibillionaires on the back of their relatives’ seniority in Indonesia’s banking industry.
- Retail and Technology: R. Budi Hartono has diversified the group’s holdings with a number of investments into technology-enabled retail, consumer electronics platforms, and traditional retail/e-commerce partnerships.
- Real Estate: The family invests in real estate across Indonesia and globally beyond tobacco and banking.
- But Djarum is not their only cow. The Hartono brothers, who top the Forbes list this year with a net worth of $32 billion, have diversified business interests ranging from coking coal mining to telecoms.
R. Budi Hartono was born on April 18, 1941, which makes him 83 years old as of 2024. He is a very private and low-profile type of person, so his height is not known to the public.
R. Budi Hartono is one of the richest people in Indonesia. His lifestyle really reflects that he is a billionaire. He lives in an upscale area in Jakarta, Indonesia, but unfortunately we do not have much detail about his house. It is estimated that he owns numerous other luxury houses or estates within Indonesia and also overseas.
Whatever how Indonesian billionaire R. Budi Hartono ever lived the life of a billionaire rich kid, he’s actually managed to keep things rather low key and ensure his business remains out of public view as best as possible, unlike some billionaires who go all-out to showcase their wealth. Looking at you, Asia’s richest man, Li Ka-shing, unless you show us, we won’t believe you!
Age
The age of R. Budi Hartono’s children is not known to the general public.
Son
R. Budi Hartono is married, and he has a son, Lukman Hartono, about whom we do not have much detail, but he is sometimes seen in the media. But they are quite secretive in nature, and there is not much information available about their involvement or about them as well.
FAQs
What is his net worth?
R. Budi Hartono’s net worth is $31 billion dollars.
