Dato Sri Tahir is the founder of Mayapada Group, a consortium of businesses dealing in banking, insurance, healthcare, retail, real estate development and media. He was also appointed to the Presidential Advisory Council by President Joko Widodo in 2019.

Coming from a humble family background in Surabaya, East Java, Tahir (born Ang Tjoen Ming) was able to earn an arts/science degree from the Nanyang Technological Institute in Singapore through a scholarship. As a student, he would buy merchandise from Singapore and sell the goods back home when he returned to Surabaya during the summer vacation. That was his first foray into import trading, which then became his bread and butter—initially, importing luxury goods from Singapore and Hong Kong.

In 1986, he established the Mayapada Group, which over time expanded into sectors including garments, finance, automobiles, health and media. Its many subsidiaries include PT Mayapada Properti Indonesia Tbk, under which are Tahir’s health and science investments PT Mayapada Healthcare Group, PT Sejahteraraya Anugrahjaya Tbk (Rumah Sakit Mayapada), PT Mayapada Clinic Pratama (Mayapada Clinic) and PT Agave Biomedi Investama (Biomedilab).

As a philanthropist, Tahir, through his eponymous foundation, has made charitable donations to several causes, from healthcare to education to legal reformation. He has given more than US$100 million towards the global prevention of HIV, malaria and tuberculosis through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.