The Story Of The Richest Person In Indonesia Whose Bank Is A Place For FPI To Save Money: Once An Asian Games Athlete

Bambang Hartono (Photo: Capture CNBC Indonesia's Youtube screen)

JAKARTA - There are still many discussions about the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which turns out to have an account at one of the largest banks in Indonesia. The bank is PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BCA). This bank is known to be owned by the richest person in Indonesia.

Michael Bambang Hartono and Budi Hartono are rich brothers who are behind the big name BCA. His brother's name, Michael Bambang Hartono, has special memories of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, what is that?

It is not a matter of Indonesia's success in holding the biggest sports party in the Yellow Continent, but Michael Hartono is one of the domestic athletes who participated in the Asian Games.

Michael Hartono, 81 years old, at that time became a national bridge athlete who successfully won a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games. This friendly man who always smiles feels called to be able to participate and contribute to the country through his bridge sport.

Sure enough, Bambang's seriousness in competing resulted in achievements that increased Indonesia's medal coffers at the event. As a form of appreciation, the government through the Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemenpora) then rewarded Bambang with an achievement bonus of IDR 150 million.

For most athletes, this is a fair amount for an individual reward measure. However, for Bambang, this figure may only be a fraction of the value of his assets. Why is that? Because Bambang, together with his younger brother Robert Budi Hartono, are estimated to have a wealth of 38.8 billion US dollars or the equivalent of Rp.548.2 trillion.

Not only that, the largest private bank in the country, namely PT Bank Central Asia Tbk (BCA), is known to be one of the business lines worked on by the Hartono family with a share ownership percentage of 54.9 percent. Just so you know, at the end of 2019, Bambang successfully pocketed a profit of IDR 7.51 trillion from his investment in BCA for one year period.

Not to mention the cuan being dredged from cigarette trading activities under the Djarum Super trademark, which is the main business of the Hartono clan today. So it was a wise thing when Bambang immediately donated all his 'wages' for his achievements at the 2018 Asian Games of IDR 150 million for the development of bridge sports in Indonesia.

Street Eating

After becoming an athlete at the 2018 Asian Games, Bambang admitted to having privacy issues in living his personal life. The reason is, after this moment he was widely exposed in the community. The news spreads quite massively.

"It's just that I'm bad now, if I want to snack on the roadside, I can't. Forced to (get around) wearing a wig, wearing a fake mustache, ”he said through the CNBC Indonesia YouTube channel as quoted by VOI on Thursday, January 6.

Previously, Bambang admitted that he could freely eat at his favorite restaurant without worrying about his freedom being disrupted.

"(Eating on the side of the road) at least once a week, maybe even twice," he said.

In fact, the appetite of the most wealthy people in the republic is not much different from that of most Indonesians and far from being super rich.

"Goat leg soup, goat satay, chicken satay, wow (it's delicious)," he said.