Kuncoro Wibowo, one of Indonesia’s richest people, is the founder and president commissioner of ACE Hardware Indonesia founded in 1995. With over 200 stores all over the country today, few would believe that Wibowo built this company from a small hardware store run by his father in Glodok, North Jakarta.

From helping his father even as a teen—while simultaneously learning English and Mandarin—Wibowo has built an encyclopaedic knowledge of the trade by connecting with their suppliers abroad. When his father died in 1981, he took over their company PT Kawan Lama Sejahtera, which by that time just opened their head office in the Glodok area.

Fast-forward to 1995, when Wibowo’s family venture brought American tools, homeware and furnishing retailer ACE Hardware to Indonesia. Kuncoro Wibowo was able to grow the outlet to be the biggest ACE Hardware store in the world, located in Alam Sutera, Tangerang, North Jakarta. Opened in 2011, the store has a total area of 15,000 square metres, carrying everything from industrial products to children’s toys.

Wibowo did not have a formal education because of the events of the 30th September Movement in 1965, which resulted in a coup attempt and mass killings. However, he was home-schooled. He later completed his education in 1977 at London Business School in England in a non-diploma programme. In 1993, he graduated from the Universitas Terbuka (Open University), majoring in Economic Management.