Hary Tanoesoedibjo

Hary Tanoesoedibjo
Born	Bambang Hary Iswanto Tanoesoedibjo 26 September 1965 Surabaya, East Java
Nationality	Indonesia
Alma mater	Carleton University University of Ottawa
Occupation	Businessman
Political party	Perindo
Parent(s)	Ahmad Tanoesoedibjo (Father) Lilek Yohana (Mother)
Relatives	Hartono Tanoesoedibjo (Brother)

Bambang Hary Iswanto Tanoesoedibjo is an Indonesian billionaire businessman and politician. He is the President Director of PT MNC Investama Tbk, which he founded in 2009. As the founder of MNC Group, he oversees and develops the strategy of the holding company and its subsidiaries, bringing them to be prominent companies in their respective areas.

In the media sector, he has served as President Director of PT Global Mediacom Tbk since 2002, President Commissioner of PT MNC Sky Vision Tbk since 2006, and as President Director of RCTI since 2010, previously serving this last position between 2003 and 2008. In the non-media sector, he serves as President Commissioner of PT MNC Kapital Indonesia Tbk since 1999, President Commissioner of PT MNC Securities since 2004, Commissioner of PT Global Transport Services since 2010, President Director of PT MNC Land Tbk since April 2011, and President Director of PT MNC Energi since 2012. In addition to his role as a speaker at national and international media events, he lectures in post-graduate programs at several universities in the fields of corporate finance, investment and management strategies.^[1]

Early life

Hary was born in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, on 26 September 1965, the son of local businessman Mr. Tanoesoedibjo. He is the youngest of six siblings. After finishing high school, he studied at Carleton University with his siblings and cousins in Canada. In 1988, he gained a bachelor of commerce, then master's of business administration, completed in 1989 at the University of Ottawa. Hary married Liliana Tanaja and they have five children, the only son being Warren Haryputra Tanoesoedibjo.

Business Empire

Hary established PT.MNC Investama in Surabaya on 2 November 1989 and moved its headquarters to Jakarta in 1990. It has become one of Indonesia's leading investment companies with a scope of operations spanning media, financial services, energy and natural resources as well as portfolio investments.

The company was initially named PT Bhakti Investments (later changed to PT Bhakti Investama Tbk) and focused primarily on capital market-related activities. The Indonesian government, which was in the 1980s and early 1990s still pursuing a deregulation policy, provided a number of facilities to boost Indonesia’s capital market.

The company’s relocation to Jakarta in February 1990 brought greater opportunities to develop the business in line with the evolving capital market. In 1994, the company expanded the scope of its business to include securities trading and brokerage, investment management, underwriting, origination and syndication, financial advisory and research services, as well as mergers and acquisitions, followed by the launch of mutual fund products. The company listed its stock on the Jakarta Stock Exchange and the Surabaya Stock Exchange (later merged into the Indonesia Stock Exchange) through an Initial Public Offering in 1997.

After becoming a public company, PT Bhakti Investama Tbk underwent vast development. To strengthen the company’s position as one of Indonesia’s leading investment companies, it undertook a number of corporate actions, including restructuring, mergers, acquisitions and direct placement. With regard to portfolio investment, the company’s approach covered both securities and equity investments. For short-term investments, the company targeted marketable securities and developed partnerships with strategic investors to pursue its long-term investment agenda of acquisitions of companies with healthy cash flow to sustain long-term growth.

With more diversified products and services, ranging from media, financial services, energy and natural resources to infrastructure, the company added value for investors, shareholders and other stakeholders. This made the company even more confident of its ability to attract a more diversified investment profile, from pension funds, banking and insurance to fund management. PT Bhakti Investama Tbk changed its name to PT MNC Investama Tbk at a general meeting of shareholders on 2 May 2013 and the change was approved by the Ministry of Law and Human Rights on 23 August 2013. The stock code remained unchanged as BHIT. The changing of the name was expected to enhance the company's profile and solidify synergies within MNC Group.

Over the decades, Hary's business empire has expanded to many sectors such as television, radio, newspapers, advertising, a talent agency, music production, online sites, telecommunications, investment, property (MNC Land) and mining with more than 50 companies. In 2011, Hary launched JKT48, an all-girl idol singing group, with Yasushi Akimoto in MNC Tower Headquarters.

He was listed by Forbes as the 29th richest Indonesian in 2016 with wealth of $1.15 billion.^[2]

Politics

In August 2011, Hary joined Nasdem Party (Partai Nasional Demokrat), an Indonesian political party founded by Surya Paloh (CEO of Metro TV). This was Hary's first venture into politics.^[3] By late 2012, there were rumors of a power struggle between Hary and Surya over the leadership of Nasdem Party. On 17 February 2013, Hary announced he had quit Nasdem Party due to his disappointment over Surya's changes to the party's strategy. In mid-2013, Hary joined the People's Conscience Party (Hati Nurani Rakyat, Hanura) of former military commander Wiranto. Hary said Hanura had a better vision and mission for Indonesia, whereas Nasdem had lost its idealism.^[4] On 2 July 2013, Hanura Party named Wiranto and Hary as its candidates for the presidency and vice presidency for Indonesia's 2014 presidential election.^[5] Hanura won only 2.86% of votes in Indonesia's 2014 general election, below a required threshold to field its own presidential candidate. Instead, Hanura joined a coalition of parties backing Joko Widodo, who won the election. The decision to support Jokowi prompted Hary to quit from the party in May 2014, as he supported former general Prabowo Subianto for the presidency.^[6]

In 2015, Hary declared his own new party called Partai Perindo, which stands for Persatuan Indonesia Party (Indonesian Unity Party). As a business partner of US President Donald Trump, Hary said he felt inspired by him and may try to run for president in Indonesia.^[7]

Hary and his wife attended the 20 January 2017 inauguration of Trump and met with members of the US president's family.^[8] MNC's corporate secretary Arya Sinulingga earlier said that Hary and his wife would have business meetings including with Trump's two oldest sons. "He will meet his business partners ahead of the inauguration to bolster some business deals," Sinulingga said.^[9]

Controversy

In June 2017, he was barred from leaving the country between June 22 and July 12 after alleging sending a series of threatening text messages^[10] to Yulianto, a deputy attorney general for special crimes, who is investigating a tax restitution to telecommunications firm, Mobile-8 in 2009, when Hary's reign was the commissioner of the company.^[11] On 7 July 2017, he was questioned for about 8 hours by the Indonesian Police over allegations that he sent threatening text messages to a deputy attorney general.^[12]

References