How This Founder of an Indonesian Film Studio Became the Newest Billionaire Producer

Hollywood better be taking notes: Manoj Punjabi has figured out how to make bank in the entertainment industry.

The co-founder and CEO of PT MD Pictures, an Indonesian film studio, is now worth some $1.6 billion, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Punjabi’s company churns out some of the country’s most popular films, allowing him to become one of the world’s rare producer-billionaires, which includes the likes of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Jerry Bruckheimer.

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“It’s a remarkable success given the fact that he’s only famous to Indonesians,” Jeffrey Bahar, the COO of Spire Research and Consulting, told Bloomberg. “Manoj Punjabi is only now going international.”

Punjabi first got into the movie business in 1995, after being fired from his job in the paper and pulp industry. He teamed up with his father and his uncle, before starting a new company with just his dad in 2002. At the beginning, they produced soap operas, expanding into film five years later. The company’s first movie was a dud, but eventually Punjabi and his father struck gold: In 2008, one of their films broke a box-office record that had been held by Titanic for a decade, Bloomberg noted.

In 2018, MD Pictures went public in Indonesia, and China’s Tencent Holdings bought a 15 percent stake for $50 million in 2021. Most recently, thanks to the success of the studio’s Curse of the Dancing Village, the company’s stock has risen 186 percent, resulting in Punjabi’s latest windfall.

The producer seems to be enjoying his wealth, too: Last year, he had a massive blowout for his 50^th birthday and MD Pictures’ 20^th anniversary. The Greatest Showman–themed party in Bali saw local celebrities and billionaires turn out to celebrate Punjabi and his success. And in a video from three years ago, Bloomberg wrote, he showed off his stately home, which included a gym, sauna, bar, spa, and hair salon. Parked in the driveway were Punjabi’s Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

Indonesia’s entertainment industry has grown substantially in recent years, currently sitting as the 15^th largest market in the world with $13 billion in revenue. That total is expected to rise 7.7 percent through 2027, according to a PwC report cited by Bloomberg. If Punjabi remains at the forefront of that trend, he may be able to buy another Rolls-Royce or three.

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