Low Tuck Kwong Becomes the Richest Man in Indonesia
- Forbes
VIVA – Currently, the record for the richest person in Indonesia is held by Low Tuck Kwong. He managed to beat the two names who have been ranked as the richest people in Indonesia for years, namely Budi Hartono and Michael Hartono.
According to a data report from Forbes' real-time billionaires quoted on Monday, December 26, 2022, Low Tuck Kwong is the richest person in Indonesia with a wealth value of US$ 26.1 billion or equivalent to IDR 407.1 trillion with an assumed exchange rate of IDR 15,600 per US dollar.
The wealth of this coal entrepreneur who founded Bayan Resources is above Budi Hartono and Michael Hartono. Forbes data shows that Budi Hartono's wealth is now US$22 billion or equivalent to IDR 344 trillion and Michael Hartono's is US$21 billion or equivalent to IDR 332 trillion.
Low Tuck's wealth has increased significantly since the beginning of 2022. At the beginning of 2022, the wealth of the man known as the coal king was US$3.7 billion (IDR 57 trillion).
Kwong is a Singaporean businessman who now resides in Indonesia. He is the owner of PT Bayan Resources Tbk (BYAN), one of the largest coal companies in Indonesia. The surge in wealth is also in line with the increase in the company's share price.
As of Monday, December 26, 2022 afternoon, the share price of the coal issuer has increased by 4.85 percent at IDR 19,475 per unit. Meanwhile, BYAN's capitalization value has touched IDR 649.17 trillion.
The return generated by BYAN's shares outperformed other coal stocks such as PT Bukit Asam Tbk (PTBA), PT Adaro Energy Indonesia Tbk (ADRO), PT Indo Tambagraya Megah Tbk (ITMG), PT Bumi Resources Tbk (BUMI) and PT Indika Energy Tbk (INDY).
Apart from being affected by the increase in coal prices, the surge in BYAN's share price was also due to the stock split action carried out by the company since early December. Since the company decided to conduct a stock split with a ratio of 1:10, BYAN's share price has continued to climb.
In addition to the coal business, Low Tuck Kwong is also the controller of the Singapore renewable energy company Metis Energy. Previously, the company was known as Manhattan Resources. Low supports SEAX Global which builds submarine cable systems for internet connectivity in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.