Garibaldi Thohir

Indonesian citizen, 46, earned his Bachelor degree from the University of Southern California in 1988 and an MBA from Northrop University, Los Angeles, United States of America in 1989.

He is the President Director of PT Adaro Energy, PT Alam Tri Abadi, PT Adaro Indonesia, PT Dianlia Setyamukti, and PT Adaro Strategic Investments. President Commissioner of PT Jasapower Indonesia, PT Adaro Power, PT Mustika Indah Permai, PT Servo Meda Sejahtera, PT Bhakti Energi Persada, PT Adaro Mining Technologies, and Commissioner of PT Indonesia Bulk Terminal and a group of 7 CCOW companies in which Adaro holds a 25% JV interest with BHP Billiton (IndoMet Coal project) since 2010.

He is also the President Director of PT Trinugraha Thohir, PT Padangbara Sukses Makmur and also serves as the President Commissioner of PT Trinugraha Food Industry, PT Wahanaartha Harsaka, PT Wahanaartha Motorent and is a Commissioner of PT Karunia Barito Sejahtera and PT Wahana Ottomitra Multiartha Tbk.

For in the 17 years since he entered the coal mining business and indeed throughout his professional career, he has constantly had to take big calculated risks - so necessary to succeed as an entrepreneur. He has come a long way: starting out by risking everything to acquire a minority interest in a small coal joint venture in South Sumatra, to today co-owning and running a US$2.9 billion dollar coal and energy group with nearly 3.5 billion tonnes of coal reserves and resources.

It was 1991, and Mr. Thohir, armed with his newly-awarded MBA from Northrop Universtity, Los Angeles, California, got the idea that he could earn a good living by owning and running a coal mine in Indonesia. He believed Indonesia was well endowed with natural resources and was geopolitically well-positioned near the fast-growing economies of Asia Pacific. With a lifetime passion for Indonesia, he realized a well run mine could also help national development. These ideas occured to him long before it was common knowledge, and his family and friends were skeptical. He risked everything and bought a small stake in PT Allied Indocoal, a joint venture company 80% owned by an Australian firm.

Initially, it looked like the investment was a failure. Coal prices were low and production costs were very high. When the economic crisis began in 1998, the foreign partners wanted to get out. Although it was extremely risky, as an entreprenuer and as an Indonesian, Mr. Thohir decided to buy the foreigners out. During the volatile years that followed, which also included problems with illegal miners, Mr. Thohir persevered to make Indocoal a profitable company. He says of this experience, "I didn’t lose any money from Indocoal, and the experience I gained was invaluable in terms of not only the know-how, but the know who.

"It was the know who", or the large network of connected players in the industry and government, that have helped Mr. Thohir create new investment opportunities. Through his contacts in banking, in 2003, despite Indocoal making very little money, Mr. Thohir took the risk to acquire PT Padangbara Sukses Makmur, an underperforming South Kalimantan coal company. Believing in the trust of good friendships and value of teamwork, Mr. Thohir asked Mr. Teddy Rachmat to join him. The timing could not have been better – the commodity boom was just getting underway, and the company has flourished ever since.

In 2005, leveraging on his past success in the coal sector, Mr. Thohir came upon an opportunity to work together with trusted good friends to make a successful entreprenurial investment. Learning that another South Kalimantan coal company, Adaro Indonesia, was potentially for sale, Mr. Thohir spearheaded a takeover plan. At that time Mr. Thohir could not afford to buy Adaro, so he formed a consortium with foreign investors to conduct a leveraged buyout. The acquisition of Adaro eventually propelled Mr. Thohir to the ranks of Indonesia’s business elite. Pursuing his vision of 17 years ago has paid big dividends. However at only 43 years of age, he has no plans to slow his ambitious plans.

Mr. Thohir says, "you must believe in yourself and your idea. But more important than perseverance and working hard is the ability to take calculated risks."