Biography Of Chairul Tanjung, From A Conglomerate To Ever Holding A Cabinet Position

Chairul Tanjung conglomerate. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Chairul Tanjung conglomerate is a successful businessman born in Jakarta, June 16, 1962 who once served as the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs (Coordinating Minister for the Economy). He assumed the position to replace Hatta Rajasa from 19 May 2014 to 20 October 2014.

The name Chairul Tanjung is widely known as an entrepreneur who leads CT Corp. Now his conglomerate CT Corp, a company that oversees several subsidiaries such as Trans Corp, Bank Mega and CT Global Resources.

Actually, Chairul Tanjung walked through childhood in a simple situation. His father was a journalist in the old order who published a small circulation newspaper. While her mother is a housewife.

During the New Order, his father's business was forced to close due to political opposition to the current ruler. This situation forced his parents to sell the house and they live in cramped inn rooms.

After high school, Chairul Tanjung alias CT, continued his education at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Indonesia and graduated in 1987. In fact, CT business talent was sharpened while in college.

He had a chance to taste selling textbooks, t-shirts, and photocopies on campus. Chairul also set up a medical equipment store and laboratory in Senen, Central Jakarta, but it went bankrupt.

After college, Chairul founded PT Pariarti Shindutama with three of his colleagues. With an initial capital of IDR 150 million from Exim Bank, they produce children's shoes for export.

Luck sided, the company immediately received an order for 160,000 pairs of shoes from Italy. However, due to different visions about business expansion, Chairul chose to separate and set up his own business.

His expertise in building networks and as an entrepreneur, makes his business grow. Directing his business towards conglomeration, Chairul repositioned himself across three core businesses: finance, property and multimedia. In the financial sector, he took over Bank Karman which was the forerunner of Bank Mega.

He named the company the Para Group. This conglomerate company has Para Inti Holdindo as the father holding company, which is in charge of several sub-holding companies, namely Para Global Investindo (financial business), Para Investindo (media and investment), and Para Inti Propertindo (property).

Under the Para Group, Chairul has a number of companies in the financial sector, including Mega General Insurance, Mega Life Life Insurance, Para Multi Finance, Bank Mega, Mega Capital Indonesia, Bank Mega Syariah, and Mega Finance.

Meanwhile, in the property and investment sector, the company is in charge of Para Bandung Propertindo, Para Bali Propertindo, Batam Indah Investindo, and Mega Indah Propertindo. In the broadcasting and multimedia sector, Para Group owns Trans TV, Trans7, Mahagagaya Perdana, Trans Fashion, Trans Lifestyle, and Trans Studio.

Especially in the property business, Para Group owns the Bandung Supermall. Then, in the investment sector, in early 2010 Para Group through its subsidiary, Trans Corp bought most of Carefour Indonesia's shares, amounting to 40 percent.

In 2010, the renowned magazine Forbes ranked Chairul as one of the richest people in the world. He is at number 937 with total assets of US $ 1 billion. Then, in 2014, Chairul's wealth jumped to 4 billion US dollars and was among the richest people in the world number 375.

On December 1, 2011, Chairul Tanjung inaugurated the change of Para Group to CT Corp. CT Corp consists of three sub holding companies, namely Mega Corp, Trans Corp, and CT Global Resources which cover financial services, media, retail, lifestyle, entertainment and natural resources.

Coordinating Minister for the Economy

On 16 May 2014, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed Chairul Tanjung as the Coordinating Minister for the Economy. He was appointed to replace Hatta Rajasa, who had officially resigned.

"I have come to the conclusion to appoint Chairul Tanjung as the new Coordinating Minister for the Economy," said SBY at the Presidential Palace Complex in Jakarta at that time.

The inauguration of Chairul Tanjung was carried out by SBY at the State Palace, Monday, 19 May 2014 based on Presidential Decree Number 41 of 2014.

Meanwhile, Hatta Rajasa resigned because he advanced to be the vice presidential candidate for Prabowo Subianto in the 2014 presidential election with the support of the Gerindra Party, PAN, PKS, Golkar and PPP.

The reason CT is a bureaucrat

Chairul himself received the first news that he would become Coordinating Minister for the Economy when he was on a trip to Myanmar with Hatta Rajasa.

"I was surprised that Pak Hatta said that he would resign. I asked him why not after registering to just resign. He said that due to the rule a week before, he had to resign, "CT said as reported by Kompas.com.

After considering it, he finally accepted the offer.

"First, because duty calls. The second reason is because Pak Hatta and I have been friends for more than 20 years, ”he said.

CT said that the Coordinating Ministry for Human Rights had a long history for him. He said that the building was formerly the Ministry of Finance building.

“During the Pak Harto era, one of the ministers, Pak Mar'ie Muhammad and I happened to be close to him, and practically this building is my second office. So I kind of understand fiscal matters, state finances and all that. That was far from about 20 years ago. So, apparently that history also makes me have to go back, "he predicted.

Today, the boss of the Trans Group is believed to have a net worth of US $ 4.9 billion or equivalent to Rp.69.62 trillion (exchange rate Rp.14,200).