Profile Of Susilo Wonowidjojo, Gudang Garam Boss Who Reportedly Performed Mass Layoffs

President Director of PT Gudang Garam Tbk, Susilo Wonowidjojo (Forbes)

YOGYAKARTA - News of the mass layoffs (PHK) carried out by PT Gudang Garam Tbk (GGRM) shocked the public. A viral video on social media shows the emotion of workers in red and blue uniforms reading PT Gudang Garam crying, hugging, and saying goodbye to their co-workers.

It is reported that as many as 308 workers were affected by the company's efficiency policy led by Susilo Wonowidjojo. This is inseparable from Gudang Garam's depressed financial condition. It is known, in the past year, the company's net profit has decreased drastically, from IDR 5.32 trillion in 2023 to IDR 980.8 billion in 2024.

Susilo Wonowidjojo's personal wealth was also eroded. In 2019, Forbes recorded that his wealth reached IDR 147 trillion, but in 2024 there was only IDR 53 trillion. This decrease of more than IDR 94 trillion illustrates the severity of the challenges facing the tobacco industry.

Behind the turmoil that occurred, the name Susilo Wonowidjojo became the public spotlight. As the third generation of Gudang Garam's founding family, he has a big responsibility to keep the company in the midst of market competition.

Susilo Wonowidjojo was born in Kediri, East Java, on November 18, 1956. He is the third child of the founder of Gudang Garam, Surya Wonowidjojo.

Since childhood, Susilo has lived in a tobacco business atmosphere, witnessing how his father built a cigarette empire from scratch to become one of the largest producers in Indonesia.

His involvement in the family business began young. In 1979, Susilo developed a special machine to increase the efficiency of kretek cigarette production. He also played a role in presenting new variants such as millid kretek in 2002, which was aimed at meeting consumer needs with lower nicotine and tar.

In fact, with his colleague Buana Susilo, he succeeded in patenting the method of making cigarette filters in the United States in the same year, an achievement that demonstrated innovation and courage to try out global markets.

After the death of Surya Wonowidjojo in 1985, Gudang Garam's leadership to his eldest son, Rachman Halim. He brought the company to glory in the 80s-90s. Only in 2009, Susilo Wonowidjojo officially led PT Gudang Garam Tbk.

Since then, Susilo has brought the company forward by managing a 208 hectare production area in Kediri and Pasuruan. The number of workers reached 36,000 people, while Gudang Garam controlled about 20 percent of the national tobacco market. Forbes also noted that his wealth had reached USD 9.2 billion in 2018, placing him in the ranks of the richest people in Indonesia.

Susilo also expanded Gudang Garam's business outside of cigarettes, ranging from infrastructure, agribusiness, to tourism. In 2019, the company built a toll road and then developed Dhoho Airport in Kediri.

In 2021, Fortune Indonesia named Susilo as Businessperson of the Year thanks to his work in maintaining large companies with a significant contribution to the national economy. Gudang Garam became the pillar of the Kediri economy with trillions of rupiah excise donations and wide job opportunities.

Although his wealth has decreased to Rp103 trillion in the last six years, Susilo has remained in the list of the top 25 richest Indonesians according to Forbes 2024. This fact confirms that even though he was hit by a storm, he was still an influential figure in the business world.