Biography

Royal Golden Eagle Group is international name of what formerly known as PT Raja Garuda Mas, a corporate owned by Chinese descendant Indonesian who now resides in Singapore, Sukanto Tanoto. While he is famous for his international business that expands to ten countries, his main businesses in Indonesia are Asian Agri Palm Oil Company and Riau Pulp and Paper. Having no opportunity to finish formal education in his youth did not stop him to earn success.

From Family Business to Successful National Company
Born on December 25th 1949, Sukanto Tanoto was raised by parents that established values of discipline, hard work and business instinct. He is also an avid reader, and he always loves reading books about history, success stories and business. When his Chinese public school was shut down by the government for fear of communism idea spreading in the 60’s, Sukanto Tanoto quickly applied real life skills in his family business, helping his father selling gasoline, oil and car accessories.

He later moved to Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra, and opened a store that also sold oil and car accessories, and later started general contractor business. His big break came when an acquaintance offered him a project for Pertamina facility in Aceh. From there, his newly acquired business skill, knowledge and experiences brought him to starting a plywood company. His plywood was a highly sought out commodity, since plywood was rare in Indonesia during the 70’s.

Riau Pulp and Asian Agri
Sukanto Tanoto later started a pulp company called PT Indorayon in Riau, but because of environmental issues, the company was closed. He later applied his experience in the establishing of Riau Pulp and later Asian Agri, which later became giants of pulp, paper and palm oil commodities in Indonesia. Riau Pulp and Paper is now said as one of the biggest pulp and paper companies in the world, and the success of these companies later prompted him to start expanding to other businesses.

His other businesses include Unibank, property business through the purchase of Thamrin Plaza and Uni Plaza, and acquisition of companies in several countries such as Philippine, Brazil and Norway. Businesses that are included in Royal Golden Eagle now consist of Sateri Holdings, Pacific Oil and Gas, Apical, Asia Symbol and APRIL. However, outside these businesses, Sukanto Tanoto is also active in several philanthropy activities through Tanoto Foundation, which focuses on activities related to social, economy and education of local communities around his company facilities in Indonesia.