The Tale of the Conglomerates (Serial 4): Chairul Tanjung, Son of a Journalist Who Become a Millionaire
The nickname “The Cassava Boy” is so attached to the figure of this well-known conglomerate in Indonesia. The Cassava Boy who has been crisscrossing the construction of various business is none other than Chairul Tanjung, the owner of the CT Corpora company.
Insight Langit Biru
JAKARTA – The nickname “The Cassava Boy” is so attached to the figure of this well-known conglomerate in Indonesia. The Cassava Boy who has been crisscrossing the construction of various business is none other than Chairul Tanjung, the owner of the CT Corpora company.
Launching the Forbes page of Wednesday, April 28, 2021, Chairul Tanjung’s assets reached US$4.2 billion or equivalent to Rp60.9 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp14,512 per US dollar).
Who would have thought, this graduate of the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Indonesia (UI) was successful in doing business to rank 589 of the richest people in the world.
Chairul Tanjung was once ranked 9th as the richest person in Indonesia in 2020. His wealth even exceeds Tahir & Family, a conglomerate and founder of the Mayapada Group.
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Selling children’s shoes
Long before enjoying his success, Chairul lived his daily life as a simple young man. Chairul’s financial condition was at its lowest point after his father’s print media closed. His father, Abdul Gafar Tanjung, was a journalist for a small newspaper in the New Order era.
The high tuition fees and family financial conditions made Chairul had to find additional income. Since his university days, Chairul is known to had been a seller of textbooks, t-shirts, and a photocopier on his campus. In addition, he has also set up a medical equipment store and laboratory in Senen, Central Jakarta.
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Economic difficulties have actually spurred Chairul Tanjung’s business talents. The Cassava Boy is getting used to it and has the courage to set up a business on a larger scale. Long before CT Corp was born, Chairul Tanjung apparently had already established PT Pariarti Shindutama.
PT Pariarti Shindutama was founded by Chairul and three of his colleagues. With a credit from Exim Bank worth Rp150 million, Chairul Tanjung dreamed of becoming the largest exporter of children’s shoes products in Indonesia.
The company, which was founded in 1987, began to show gratifying development. Chairul once got a “windfall” after receiving an order for 160,000 pairs of shoes from Italy.
Nevertheless, Chairul Tanjung could not fully feel the blessings from the first effort he built. In the same year, Chairul decided to leave PT Pariarti Shindutama because there were different views on business expansion.
Early Footprints of Chairul Tanjung’s Business Octopus
His decision to leave the company was not the end of his business career. In fact, CT Corp was built since then. He built his own business called Para Group.
Prior to becoming a conglomerate, Chairul Tanjung’s Para Group focused on the export-oriented footwear business and domestic housing industry.
Chairul Tanjung’s expertise in building a business gave him the courage to enter the new business sector starting in 1995. From there, Chairul Tanjung began to build the Para Group business conglomerate.
Chairul’s conglomerate company has Para Inti Holdindo as the father holding company. Some of the sub holdings of Para Inti Holdindo include Para Global Investindo (financial business), Para Inti Investindo (media and investment), and Para Inti Propertindo (property).
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Para Group’s First Backbone
Chairul’s business in the financial sector, namely PT Bank Mega Tbk (MEGA), has become the main backbone of the Para Group in carrying out its business actions. This bank is quite strong despite being hit by the financial crisis in 1998.
In fact, Bank Mega was able to lend funds to other banks when the Indonesian economy was unstable. One of them was PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BBCA) or BCA, which at that time belonged to the Salim Group with a total loan of Rp1.3 trillion in 1998.
This decision bears sweet fruit. After lending his funds, Chairul Tanjung was given a way to work with the Salim Group in managing the Batam and Singapore project.
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Bank Mega became Chairul Tanjung’s first business entity to be listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) since March 28, 2001. Bank Mega’s progress was very smooth. The bank is able to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) three years later from the financial crisis that hit banks in Indonesia. Now, Bank Mega has grown and is recorded to have a market capitalization value of Rp59.9 trillion.
Apart from banking, several other businesses in the financial sector owned by Para Group are Mega General Insurance, Mega Life Insurance, Para Multi Finance, Mega Capital Indonesia, Bank Mega Syariah, and Mega Finance.
In the investment and property sector, Chairul Tanjung’s business octopus is scattered in various regions. These businesses include Para Bandung Propertindo, Para Bali Propertindo, Batam Indah Investindo, and Mega Indah Propertindo.
One of his successes in investment was turning Bandung Supermall into a central business district in 1999. The construction of the Bandung Supermall, which has changed its name to Trans Studio Mall Bandung, has cost up to Rp99 billion on a 3 hectare land.
Chairul Tanjung then changed the name Para Group to CT Corp in 2008.
Chairul Tanjung’s investment activity is no less aggressive. Chairul Tanjung is recorded as having acquired up to 40% of Carrefour Indonesia’s shares in 2010.
Not only that, the Cassava Boy was also recorded as having 25.80% of shares in State Owned Enterprises (BUMN) PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk (GIAA) in February 2020. Chairul’s investment was launched through PT Trans Airways in GIAA which then shrank to become only 9.9% due to the decline in the performance of this state-owned company.
Media Business of The Son of a Journalist
Having a father who was a journalist has made Chairul explore the prospects for media business. Unlike his father who was involved in the world of print media, Chairul Tanjung sees brighter prospects from broadcast media companies.
In August 1998, Chairul Tanjung’s Trans TV obtained the first license to broadcast on Indonesian television screens. The promising business growth of Trans TV made this company launch an acquisition of Kompas Gramedia’s TV7 television station in 2006.
The increasingly popular media business made Chairul Tanjung set up a networked business unit called TransMedia in 2018. A number of businesses owned by Transmedia include Trans Tv, Trans7, and TransVision.
One of the keys to the success of Chairul Tanjung’s TransMedia is his accuracy in reading market tastes. Transmedia managed to rake in a lot of broadcast rights from the world cup competition in 2018 and is exploring cooperation with the largest entertainment agency in South Korea, SM Entertainment.
The man who was born on June 16, 1962 was also recorded as having held a strategic position as the Coordinating Minister for the Economy in 2014. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed Chairul Tanjung to replace Hatta Rajasa. His success as an entrepreneur made SBY interested in making Chairul Tanjung to lead the country’s economic sector.
This article is a series of special reports that will be continued in the next issue entitled “The Tale of the Conglomerates.”
The Tale of the Conglomerates (Serial 1): Michael Bambang Hartono, from Fireworks Factory to the Richest
The Tale of the Conglomerates (Serial 2): Sri Prakash Lohia, Selling Threads to Abundant Money
The Tale of the Conglomerates (Serial 3): Petrochemical Boss Prajogo Pangestu, from Driver to Filthy Rich
Writer: Muhamad Arfan Septiawan
Editor: Sukirno