Djarum Boss Michael Bambang Hartono to Be Laid in State in Jakarta and Kudus

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Michael Bambang Hartono, owner of the cigarette company PT Djarum, passed away today, Thursday (19/3/2026). Corporate Communication Manager of PT Djarum, Budi Darmawan, stated that the late Michael Bambang Hartono is scheduled to be buried on Wednesday, 25 March 2026. “The family grave is in Godo, Rembang, Central Java,” he told Kompas.com on Thursday (19/3/2026). Budi explained that tomorrow, or Friday (20/3/2026), the body will be flown to Jakarta and laid in state at Rumah Duka Grand Heaven for three days or until 22 March 2026. After that, the late Bambang Hartono will be flown to be laid in state at GOR Jati, Kudus, until Wednesday, 25 March 2026. “(The schedule) may still change at any time,” he revealed. The man, affectionately known as Michael Hartono, died in Singapore at 13:15 local time. Michael's passing marks the end of a long journey for one of Indonesia's most influential conglomerates. Together with his younger brother, Robert Budi Hartono, he built a business group that began in the kretek cigarette industry and expanded into a cross-sector conglomerate with ownership in banking, electronics, property, and digital infrastructure. Based on Kompas.com records, Michael Bambang Hartono was born in Kudus, Central Java, on 2 October 1939. During his childhood, Bambang attended junior and senior high school in Kudus, and studied at the Faculty of Economics, Diponegoro University, Semarang, in 1959. Along with the growth of the national kretek cigarette industry, Djarum developed rapidly in the 1970s.