Anindya Bakrie
Anindya Novyan Bakrie, is an Indonesian business magnate, investor and philanthropist. Through his business community leadership roles over the years, he represents Indonesian and Indo-Pacific business community voices in global forums and summits. He is also a pioneer in Indonesia's electric vehicle heavy mobility industry.
Bakrie was appointed Chairman of the Indonesian [Chamber of Commerce and Industry] for the 2024–2029 term and Indonesia Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council, a position he has held since 2009. ABAC is the private-sector arm of the APEC, whose main mandate is to advise the organisation's leaders and officials on issues of interest to business. Bakrie and Indonesian Minister of State-owned Enterprises Erick Thohir are the majority shareholders of English Championship club Oxford United.
He is also a governor on the Automotive and New Mobility board of the World Economic Forum.
Bakrie is currently the CEO of Bakrie & Brothers, the original business of the Bakrie Group, itself one of the oldest and largest family-owned conglomerates in Indonesia. Bakrie & Brothers, first established as a general trading company in 1942, focuses its operations across industries including automotive components, building materials, toll roads, power plants, steel pipe manufacturing, news media network. The group owns one of the largest coal mining businesses in Indonesia and under Bakrie's leadership the business group is now transitioning towards the renewable sector. Past profits accumulated by the Bakrie group from coal mining are now being reinvested into green projects and other efforts towards energy transition. The group's electric vehicle arm VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas partnered with China's BYD in 2018 to supply 52 electric buses for use in Jakarta. In 2023, the group was credited for pioneering the supply of electric buses for public use in an Indonesian city.
Bakrie is the chairman of VKTR Teknologi Mobilitas, and the founder and CEO of the Visi Media Asia Group, which operates television news and sports channel TVOne, entertainment channel ANTV and online news portal VIVA.co.id. He is also the founder of the Bakrie Center Foundation, which serves as a platform for his philanthropic activities.
Early life and education
Bakrie was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 10 November 1974, the elder son of Aburizal Bakrie and Tatty Murnitriati. He is the eldest grandson of Achmad Bakrie, who founded Bakrie Group in 1942, which is now known as Bakrie & Brothers. Bakrie married Firdani Saugi and has three children.He attended Triguna Elementary School and graduated in 1986 before continuing his secondary education at Pangudi Luhur Catholic High School in Jakarta. He was then enrolled in Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, a high school in the United States. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University, Illinois, in 1996.
Bakrie went on to undertake a postgraduate study and managed to obtain a Master's degree from the Global Management Immersion Experience program at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2001.
Career
Bakrie began his career as an investment banker at Salomon Brothers, Wall Street, in the United States in 1996. In 1997, his father, Aburizal Bakrie, asked him to return to Indonesia following the 1998 riots. After receiving his MBA from Stanford, he served as Deputy to Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of Bakrie & Brothers.Bakrie has been involved in various business ventures throughout his career. He has served as a Director of PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk since 2007 and as a Director of PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations Tbk since 2008. He also served as a Director of PT Bakrie & Brothers Tbk from 2005 to 2007.
Business and community leader
Chairman of KADIN IndonesiaHaving contributed to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for nearly 25 years, Bakrie was appointed as Chairman for the 2024–2029 term, having been Chairman of the Advisory Board from 2021 to 2024. Bakrie's promotion to Chairman reflects his strategic contributions to KADIN's mission of fostering collaboration between Indonesia's private sector and the government, enabling economic resilience and growth.
Under his leadership, KADIN is actively mobilizing private-sector support nationwide to achieve the Prabowo-Gibran administration's target of 8% economic growth. Bakrie's vision emphasizes key priorities, including digital innovation, infrastructure development, and sustainable practices, to strengthen Indonesia's economic position. His tenure seeks to enhance KADIN's influence through strategic partnerships and investments aligned with national development goals.
Chair of APEC BAC Indonesia
Bakrie has served as the Chair of APEC Business Advisory Council Indonesia since 2016, championing regional economic cooperation and sustainability initiatives. His tenure has been marked by the launch of the APEC Electric Vehicle Supply Chain Roadmap, a strategic framework to foster EV adoption and production across APEC economies. This initiative aims to reduce carbon emissions and accelerate the transition to sustainable transportation systems throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
In 2023, Bakrie established the ASEAN Caucus at the APEC BAC meeting in San Francisco, USA. This initiative created a unified platform for ASEAN nations within ABAC, facilitating alignment on priorities such as the EV supply chain, carbon center of excellence, and cross-border digital payments. The ASEAN Caucus strengthens the influence of Southeast Asian economies within APEC, ensuring that ASEAN perspectives play a central role in shaping regional economic policies.
Bakrie is spearheading efforts to host an ABAC meeting in Indonesia, proposed for April 2025 in Jakarta and Bandung, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference. This proposal aims to position Indonesia at the heart of discussions on regional integration and sustainable development, reinforcing Indonesia's role within APEC and beyond.
Chair of ASEAN BAC Indonesia
Bakrie's role as Chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council began in 2024, complementing his leadership as Chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He advocates for regional stability and investment, especially as the ASEAN region navigates complex economic challenges.
Business magnate in energy and telecommunications
Electrification agenda through VKTR and INBCAs the chairman of VKTR, Bakrie was involved in negotiating with China's BYD to reach an Indonesian project partnership and in lobbying the government to expand coverage of the vehicle registration certificate regime to include electric buses for the first time. Before this expanded coverage, electric buses could not be issued an STNK.
The adoption of electric buses for public transport was deemed crucial, as 75% of air pollution in Jakarta comes from road transportation. Data from the Jakarta administration's environment agency showed 110,000 premature deaths in 2019 were linked to pollution. Electric buses also help to alleviate national government budget spending burden as they do not operate on fuel. Indonesia subsidizes fuel sold at the pump stations to keep prices affordable. In 2022, Indonesia's fuel subsidy reached 149.4 trillion rupiah. The 52 buses supplied by VKTR to the Jakarta administration, between March 2020 and early 2023, were used by 10 million riders and 5.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were avoided, or equivalent to restoring 250,000 trees a year.
Bakrie has championed sustainable development through strategic ventures like the Indonesia Battery Corporation, which he launched in London in 2022 in collaboration with global industry leaders Envision and Glencore. Through this initiative, Bakrie envisions positioning Indonesia as a pivotal player in the global electric vehicle supply chain, delivering essential nickel-based battery materials for markets across the G7, including the UK, Europe, and the US. With a target production of 12–15 million tons of nickel, INBC aims to supply the raw material for two million EV batteries, thus fostering a reliable alternative for low-carbon battery production aligned with global sustainability goals.
The INBC consortium, led by Indonesia's largest private conglomerate, Bakrie Group, emphasizes its commitment to environmental and social governance principles and clean energy. The nickel processing operations will be powered by renewable energy sources, such as a planned 1GW onshore wind farm, marking a pioneering step for Indonesia's first net-zero industrial park in Sulawesi.
Through INBC, Bakrie positions Indonesia as a leader in the sustainable resource sector, particularly for green critical minerals essential to EVs, establishing a model for clean, responsible, and future-focused resource development.
VIVA as an investor and building trust
Bakrie has been involved in the media industry since he joined Cakrawala Andalas Televisi in Indonesia. In 2002, he sent a debt restructuring proposal to more than 200 creditors and persuaded them to restructure their debt into equity. This reduced the debt to zero, even though it meant cutting Bakrie's stake from 60% to 21%. Bakrie also made content adjustments, changing the mix from individual general programming to focus on family-friendly shows such as quiz programs, children's shows, and football matches.
In 2007, he acquired a second TV station, Lativi Media Karya, from businessman and former Minister of Manpower, Abdul Latief. The station was renamed TV One and restructured to focus on news for middle-class viewers. Together, ANTV and TVOne control about 15.6% of TV advertising expenditure in Indonesia. In 2011, Bakrie collaborated with Erick Thohir to acquire both TV stations, plus the online news portal Vivanews. In Visi Media Asia, or the Viva group, Bakrie serves as the chairman and Thohir is the president director.
In 2014, the Bakrie Global Group invested in Series C in Path, a personal social network with 4 million active users in Indonesiae. The Path social networking site closed in October 2018.
Bakrie served as the President Director and CEO of PT Bakrie Telecom Tbk from December 2003 to January 2012. Bakrie Telecom is a publicly listed company in Indonesia that provides CDMA-based wireless telecommunications services, including mobile phones, fixed-line phones, international direct dialing, long-distance calling, internet access, and value-added services. During his tenure, the company grew to become the largest public CDMA operator in Indonesia, with over 11 million subscribers in 2011. However, the company faced financial difficulties and was eventually acquired by PT Smartfren Telecom in 2014.
Electric vehicles
Bakrie Group's VKTR, which builds electric buses and trucks, listed its initial shares on Indonesia Stock Exchange on 19 June 2023. The Jakarta-based auto assembler is supported by China's BYD Auto, a producer of lithium iron phosphate batteries. Bakrie is the chief commissioner of VKTR.The company raised 875 billion rupiah in the initial public offering on 19 June 2023.
In March 2022, VKTR supplied 30 electric buses to the Jakarta city administration to be deployed for public transport. Another 22 electric buses were added by VKTR in December 2022, raising the electric bus fleet of the Jakarta capital city to a total of 52. These 52 buses, for 14 months from March 2022, were used by 10 million riders and 5.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide were avoided, equivalent to restoring 250,000 trees a year.