• Death of Indonesian business tycoon: from cigarettes to banking and tech

Indonesian billionaire Michael Hartono, a key shareholder in Bank Central Asia, Indonesia’s largest bank by market value, has died at the age of 86.

Budi Darmawan, secretary of Hartono’s company Djarum, confirmed that he passed away in Singapore on March 19.

Hartono shared a fortune estimated at $31 billion with his younger brother Budi Hartono, 85, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Born on October 2, 1939, in Central Java, Michael took over his family’s cigarette factory with his brother in 1963 after a devastating fire, rebuilding it into one of Indonesia’s largest companies with expansions into banking, technology, and consumer goods.

Their biggest move came after the late-1990s Asian financial crisis, when the banking sector collapsed due to bad debts. The brothers acquired a controlling stake in Bank Central Asia through their holding company, turning it into Indonesia’s most profitable private bank and a major player in the country’s payments and lending systems.

Beyond banking, the family later expanded into electronics, telecom infrastructure, real estate, and digital ventures.

Hartono’s death comes amid tighter government scrutiny of Indonesia’s wealthiest families under President Joko Widodo, including a temporary travel ban in 2025 on his nephew, Victor Hartono, due to a tax corruption investigation.

Known for a low-profile lifestyle, Michael rarely appeared in the media or at public events, preferring to work quietly behind the scenes. Chess was among his hobbies, and he represented Indonesia at the 2018 Asian Games.