This story appears in the December 2024 issue of Forbes Asia. Subscribe to Forbes Asia
Franky Widjaja, President Commissioner Dian Swastatika Sentosa.
Dimas Adian/Bloomberg
This article is part of Forbes’ 2024 report on Indonesia’s richest people. here.
The Widjaja family’s fortune soared 75% to $18.9 billion, driven by a seven-fold rise in the share price of Dian Swastatika Sentosa, the energy-to-infrastructure unit of Sinar Mas. Now, the family’s largest asset, Dian Swastatika, has recently been expanding its renewable energy and telecommunications portfolio.
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Hendra Wardana, founder of Indonesian research company Stocknow.id, said that the substantial growth in profits of non-coal companies in 2023 will help stimulate investor enthusiasm. Although coal will still account for the largest share of Dian Swastika’s $5 billion in revenue in 2023, sales fell 18% due to weaker prices.
In September, Dian Swastatika said it would spend $400 million to develop two geothermal projects with a power generation potential of more than 80 megawatts. It has also partnered with Asset Management, the Korean investment entity of South Korean tycoon Kim Nam-goo, to build a $300 million data center in Jakarta.
Separately, Sinar Mas Group also plans to merge its telecom unit Smartfren with Indonesia’s third-largest telecom company XL Axiata to compete with larger rivals: state-owned Telkomsel and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison. Its real estate arm Sinar Mas Land is building a $1 billion special economic zone in BSD City, a 6,000-hectare suburb of Jakarta that will include schools and hospitals.
