How Singapore-born coal tycoon Low Tuck Kwong becomes Indonesia's 2nd-richest billionaire

The bulk of Low's fortune comes from Bayan Resources, one of the largest coal producers in Indonesia. He holds a 62% stake in the company, both directly and through his children.

While he now ranks second among the country’s richest individuals, his net worth was just around $1.1 billion in 2021, according to Forbes.

For Low, building his coal empire has been a long journey, one that defied experts’ repeated forecasts of a sunset industry.

Indonesian billionaire Low Tuck Kwong. Photo courtesy of SEAX Global

Born in Singapore in 1948, Low started helping his father, a migrant from southern China who founded a civil construction firm called Sum Cheong, on building projects when he was 14. Sum Cheong eventually grew into a successful business in Singapore and Malaysia.

Rather than taking over the family business, Low wanted to strike out on his own and saw opportunities in Indonesia, a much larger market where few Singaporeans did business at the time.

He secured his first project in that market in 1973, handling groundwork for an ice cream factory in Jakarta’s coastal Ancol area. He claims to have been the first contractor in the country to speed up construction by using diesel hammers for piling.

He later teamed up with Jaya Steel to establish Jaya Sumpiles Indonesia, a contractor specializing in earthworks, civil works, and marine structures. Low eventually took full control of the company and expanded it into contract coal mining in 1988.

With mining experience under his belt, Low found owning a mine to be his next step.

Since the country does not allow foreigners to own mining concessions, he became an Indonesian citizen in 1992 and acquired his first mine, the Gunungbayan Pratamacoal in East Kalimantan, five years later.

The site was inland and not very close to a river, unlike the coastal mines that most investors at the time favored for easier shipping.

"People said there was something wrong with our brains," Low recalled, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal.

Production began the next year, an inopportune time as the Asian financial crisis and political turmoil were sweeping the country. The firm’s first shipment resulted in a loss of $3 per ton due to declining coal prices.

Nonetheless, Low believed in the potential of his high-grade coal and pushed ahead with expansion, buying a coal port on the east coast of the Borneo island in 1998 and forming Bayan Resources, which went public on the Indonesia Stock Exchange four years later.

The firm steadily took on debt to acquire new mines in the area, even as global climate concerns and China’s shift toward clean energy in the 2010s cast doubt over the industry.

A consultant hired for Bayan at the time even predicted that its main mine would never exceed 15 million tons in annual sales. Burdened with over $500 million in debt, the company bought time by negotiating with creditors.

Yet, China remains the world's manufacturing hub with an insatiable need for energy, driving up coal demand and prices despite repeated forecasts of a peak. Indonesia establishes itself as the world’s largest coal exporter, supplying more of the fuel than any other country.

A coal mine of Bayan Resources in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo courtesy of the company

Bayan continued to grow against expectations, returning to financial health by 2018.

Low attempted to sell a stake in his Indonesian mining company before the Covid-19 pandemic but found no suitable buyer, so he instead chose to add more shares.

"It's very simple: If I can't sell part of my shares, I better buy more," Bloomberg quoted him as saying in an interview.

Demand for coal has continued to rise since, driven by the post-pandemic economic recovery and the Russia-Ukraine conflict that began in early 2022.

That same year, Bayan’s shares skyrocketed, boosting Low’s wealth to $12.1 billion. By 2023, his fortune had more than doubled to $27.2 billion, with Bayan’s coal sales reaching 47.2 million tons.

Beyond coal, Low also owns Singapore-based renewable energy firm Metis Energy and holds stakes in The Farrer Park Company in the healthcare field and Samindo Resources, an investment company.

He also invests in SEAX Global, which is developing a submarine cable system to provide internet connectivity linking Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

Not much is publicly known about his personal life, except that he is married with two children.

His daughter, Elaine Low, received a 22% stake in Bayan Resources from him last August as part of a long-term succession plan.

Forbes reported that Low travels to his coal site by helicopter and owns a private zoo there, which he started in the late 1990s after seeing wild animals displaced by mining and plantation activities. "I love animals," he said.

Looking ahead, Bayan aims to ramp up coal production to over 80 million tons annually by 2026, up from 50 million in 2023. To support operations at its remote mining site, the company is constructing an airport for worker transportation.

It has invested about $500 million in infrastructure expansion since 2020, reflecting its founder’s firm belief in the future of the industry.

"Many poor countries still need coal," Low said.