Nadiem States His Wealth Comes from Gojek, Not Related to Chromebook Case

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Former Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Nadiem Makarim, has denied receiving a flow of funds amounting to Rp 809 billion during the trial of the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebook-based laptops.

This moment occurred when his legal counsel raised the prosecutor’s allegation regarding the defendant being enriched by Rp 809 billion.

In response to questions from his legal counsel, Nadiem denied ever receiving that money from any company.

“I have never received it, and there is no Rp 809 billion figure in any of my tax returns,” Nadiem said at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Monday (11/5/2026).

Nadiem emphasised that all his wealth comes from the results of building Gojek from its inception.

“All the shares I obtained, I received since 2015. And once again, it is not only lawful money, but money I earned through hard work building the Gojek company, which has created millions of jobs in this country,” he stated.

During the hearing, Nadiem also explained the origins of his wealth that the prosecutors had questioned, including the Rp 5.2 trillion figure listed in his personal tax return.

Nadiem’s legal counsel initially highlighted the issue of tax payments on Gojek shares, which had been repeatedly raised in the trial.

According to him, the Rp 5.2 trillion figure in the 2022 tax return was not the result of share sales, but rather the basis for imposing a founders’ tax of 0.5 per cent at the time of Gojek’s IPO.

He stated that the Rp 26 billion tax in the return was paid using personal funds.

“Paid with personal money,” Nadiem emphasised.

Nadiem said that he only sold shares publicly on the Jakarta Stock Exchange in 2023 and 2024.

“Yes, I sold my shares on the open market at the Jakarta Stock Exchange in 2023 and 2024,” he said.