Indonesia’s tycoons just cleared another milestone: collective fortunes of the country’s 50 richest rose to a record $306 billion this year, up from $263 billion, helped by a 17% rally in the benchmark stock index. That kind of market-driven growth should be celebrated by anyone who believes in prosperity created through risk, investment and enterprise — not punished with envy or handouts.
This surge is proof that when capital is allowed to flow and businesses are rewarded for building real value, entire industries and communities benefit. Conservatives should cheer these results: private-sector innovation and savers taking bets on the future are what lift living standards, not bigger government programs or punitive rhetoric against success.
At the top of the list, brothers R. Budi and Michael Hartono keep their throne with a combined net worth of $43.8 billion, even though their fortune dipped in dollar terms this year — a reminder that wealth is neither static nor a crime, but the outcome of competition and market cycles. The Hartonos’ position underlines how durable enterprise can be even amid volatility and policy uncertainty.
One striking theme this year is the ascent of data-center entrepreneurs, whose companies rode booming digital demand to propel founders like Otto Toto Sugiri and Marina Budiman into the top 10. Tech infrastructure, not political favor, drove these gains, showing that infrastructure investment and private ingenuity remain powerhouse engines of wealth creation across Southeast Asia.
Still, investors should watch Jakarta’s regulatory playbook closely: regulators are proposing to lift the minimum free-float requirement for listed companies from a tiny 7.5% up to 25% in stages. While the stated goal is to attract more investors and deepen markets, heavy-handed mandates can backfire if they push founders into selling strategic stakes at the wrong time or crowd out long-term stewardship.
Worryingly, political maneuvers are also creeping into the economic landscape — from sovereign wealth moves to “patriot” bond drives that ask the wealthy to subsidize state goals at below-market returns. When business leaders feel nudged to buy political instruments, it blurs the line between patriotism and cronyism, and conservatives should be the loudest defenders of transparency and market-based compensation.
America’s policymakers and investors would do well to study Indonesia’s success story and its pitfalls: reward entrepreneurs, protect property rights, and resist the urge to substitute political decrees for market signals. If free enterprise is allowed to flourish and rules are predictable, more hardworking people will benefit — not just the headline-making billionaires.
