Nadiem Makarim Frankly Admits to Topping Up Staff Salaries from His Own Pocket
Jakarta, VIVA – Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology Nadiem Makarim admitted to providing additional salary or wage amounts to his special ministerial staff (SKM) using his personal funds, ranging from Rp15 million to Rp20 million.
Initially, the public prosecutor (JPU) asked about the additional salaries given to five of Nadiem’s staff, from Jurist Tan and Dei Sudarmo to Fiona Handayani, on a routine monthly basis.
Nadiem then explained that the additional salary was provided to meet the living needs of his staff. According to Nadiem, his subordinates did not receive additional allowances like structural officials.
In addition, Nadiem stated that SKM had experienced an 80% income reduction when joining the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology.
“Even with the additions I provide from my personal pocket, they still face a salary reduction of up to 40 percent. And they are still willing to join for Indonesia’s education mission,” Nadiem said during the trial on Monday, 11 May 2026.
On the other hand, he claimed not to remember the exact amount of the additional salary given to his staff. However, Nadiem stated that the salary was in the range of Rp15 million to Rp20 million.
“I don’t remember exactly. Maybe in the range of Rp15 to Rp20 million per month for all SKM, if I’m not mistaken,” he concluded.
It is known that Nadiem Makarim, along with other defendants, has been charged with causing a state loss of Rp2.1 trillion in the alleged corruption case related to the procurement of Chromebooks at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology during the 2019-2022 period.
In total, there are 25 parties consisting of individuals and companies that enriched themselves in this case, one of which is Nadiem Makarim for Rp809 billion.
However, this has been denied by Nadiem Makarim. Because the hundreds of billions of rupiah is a figure from the results of a corporate action between Google and Gojek that is not related to the Chromebook procurement.