Michael Bambang Hartono—one of Indonesia’s most influential businessmen with interests in banking and tobacco industries—died at the age of 86 in Singapore.

His death was confirmed by Ossy Indra Wardhani, corporate affairs director of GDP Venture, the venture capital arm of Djarum Group, the flagship company of Michael and his brother Robert Budi Hartono. Martin Hartono, son of Robert, is the founder and CEO of GDP Venture, which counts Indonesian ecommerce firm Blibli among its portfolio companies.

With a combined net worth of $43.8 billion, the Hartono brothers are the wealthiest in Indonesia, according to Forbes Asia’s list of the country’s 50 richest published in December.

Michael was also active in philanthropy through the Djarum Foundation, which supports education, sports and the environment. He was also a professional bridge athlete, who long advocated to get the game of bridge included in the Asian Games. His team won bronze in the Asian Games 2018.

Michael and Robert’s father, Oei Wie Gwan, bought a bankrupt cigarette company in 1950 and renamed it Djarum after the needle of a gramophone. The company has since become one of the biggest producers of clove cigarettes in Indonesia.

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Apart from their controlling interest in Djarum, the family draws the bulk of their wealth from a valuable stake in Bank Central Asia, the country’s biggest lender by market cap. The Hartonos bought the stake in BCA after another wealthy family, the Salims, lost control of the bank during the 1997-1998 Asian economic crisis.

Family holdings also include prime real estate in Jakarta and popular electronics brand Polytron, which forayed into the EV business on its home turf in 2025 with the launch of two electric car models. They also own a stake in Singapore-based game devices maker Razer.—With reporting from Gloria Haraito and Yessar Rosendar.

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