Hary
Tanoesoedibjo

Self-made billionaire with Trump-esque tendencies, Tanoesoedibjo (aka “Hary Tanoe,” aka “HT”) this year stepped down from his CEO role at MNC Media. Instead, he is spending more time on politics. He joined and quit two political parties and latterly formed his own, Partai Perindo. A presidential bid seems a possibility at the next election.

With an early start in the finance and mutual funds industries, the Canadian-educated Tanoe took advantage of the late 20th century Asian Financial Crisis to get a head start in several new business areas. The media sector in Indonesia has massive potential given its relatively low development to date and the country’s massive 260 million population. MNC Media is now Indonesia’s largest broadcaster with three FTA channels, stakes in three pay-TV platforms, cable channels, web portals and a newspaper.

Tanoe’s politics and approach to business take something of a nationalist, strongman approach. Following a previously established pattern, he remains MNC Media’s president commissioner and still has a big hand in strategy and policy, leaving others to execute. He applauded the government decision in March to block Netflix from operating in Indonesia, arguing that the streaming giant was not licensed, not paying tax in the country, was majority foreign-owned and kept its servers out of reach of Indonesian authorities. He also argued that the platform was not necessary as MNC offered its own on-demand content.

Tanoe has previously praised Russia’s Vladimir Putin and U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. Indeed, Tanoe and Trump are already in business, with MNC building a Trump Hotel set to open in Bali in 2018. And like Trump, Tanoe is no stranger to controversy, having gotten embroiled in a defamation case in 2017 that has dragged down MNC stock.