Pandu Sjahrir's leap from Indonesia's coal baron to tech kingmaker

Sjahrir, an unknown figure 10 years ago, suddenly seems to be everywhere. Chairman of Sea Indonesia. Gojek board member. His breakthrough was taking a coal mining company public in 2012. Now, he’s helping tech companies list on the Indonesian Stock Exchange

Sjahrir, just 41 years old, is quickly becoming one of the most influential figures in Indonesia’s digital ecosystem

In his role as commissioner of the Indonesian Stock Exchange, he’s paving the way for the first domestic tech IPOs

There’s still work to do, such as creating a framework that would allow companies with a multi-class share structure to list

With the halo of his family name and track record as an investor, Sjahrir is someone regulators, and founders, would listen to

Outside Indonesia, the name Pandu Sjahrir probably won’t ring a bell. Yet, the 41-year-old investor has accomplished something that even bigwigs like SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son haven’t.

Sjahrir wields influence in all three of Southeast Asia’s largest tech companies.

He’s the chairman of Singapore-headquartered tech giant Sea Ltd’s Indonesian entity. Sea is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, with a market cap of US$130 billion. He’s on the board of ride-hailing major Gojek, which is due to merge with another Indonesian unicorn, Tokopedia, to form an US$18 billion US$18 billion The Business Times Gojek and Tokopedia said to be finalising US$18b merger to form 'Goto' Read more entity.

AUTHOR

Nadine Freischlad

Nadine is based in Indonesia. She covers Southeast Asia's super apps, the changing nature of work and employment, and other structural shifts happening as a result of digital disruption.

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