The Widjaja family is one of Indonesia’s richest families. They are the owners of the global conglomerate Sinar Mas, with operations spanning paper, real estate, financial services, agribusiness and communications. The business dynasty, now in its third generation, was founded by Eka Tjipta Widjaja in 1938.
Born in China, Eka Tjipta immigrated to Indonesia in 1930 and began his business dealings by selling biscuits from a bicycle rickshaw. He founded Sinar Mas in 1938, building it into a successful trading company and eventually becoming a supplier to the army. Today, Sinar Mas is one of Indonesia’s largest trading groups, generating an annual revenue of approximately $30 billion. He died in 2019 at age 98.
Teguh Ganda Wijaya, Eka Tjipta’s eldest son, heads the family’s Asia Pulp & Paper division. Teguh’s brother, Indra, oversees the group’s investments, financial services and mining segment. Their brother Muktar chairs the property business, while brother Franky Oesman controls the group’s agricultural and food business, in addition to managing the telecom and technology segments.
Indra’s son, Fuganto Widjaja, serves as CEO of the group’s Golden Energy Mines. Altogether, 12 of Eka Tjipta Widjaja’s grandchildren are directly involved with the business he built, representing the family’s third generation.
