Nadiem Makarim

In this Indonesian name, the surname is Makarim.

Franka Franklin

​

(m. 2014)​

Nadiem Makarim
Official portrait, 2021
1st Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 April 2021
Relations	Hamid Algadri (grandfather)
Education	United World College of Southeast Asia, Singapore
Alma mater	Brown University (BA) Harvard University (MBA)
Known for	Co-founder and former CEO of Gojek
Signature

Nadiem Anwar Makarim (born 4 July 1984) is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the current minister of education, culture, research, and technology of Indonesia. ^[1]

Prior to entering politics, in 2010, he founded Gojek, Indonesia's first startup valued over US$10 billion. ^[2] In October 2019, he was appointed as Minister of Education and Culture by President Joko Widodo on his second term's cabinet and subsequently resigned from his post at Gojek. ^{[3] [4]}

Early life and education

Nadiem was born in Singapore on 4 July 1984, to Indonesian parents Nono Anwar Makarim and Atika Algadri. His father is an activist, lawyer and is of Minangkabau-Arabian descent. His maternal grandfather is Hamid Algadri. He has two sisters, Hana Makarim, and Rayya Makarim known as a filmmaker. He married Franka Franklin and they have three children. ^[5]

Nadiem attended high school in Jakarta and United World College of Southeast Asia (UWC SEA), Singapore, and then went to Brown University for a BA in International Relations. He did his MBA at Harvard Business School. ^{[6] [7]}

Business career

Nadiem Anwar Makarim at the World Economic Forum.

Nadiem started his career at McKinsey & Company as management consultant in Jakarta. He left to co-found Zalora, an online fashion shop, then left Zalora to become Chief Innovation Officer at Kartuku, a payment service provider.

Early career

After graduating from Brown University in 2006, Nadiem decided to come back home to Indonesia and worked at McKinsey & Company. Nadiem worked as a McKinsey consultant for 3 years. ^[8]

Nadiem became co-founder and managing director for Zalora Indonesia in 2011. In 2012, Nadiem made the decision to leave Zalora to focus on building his own startup, including Gojek, which at that time had 15 employees and 450 drivers. He claims to have learned enough from Zalora, which was his main goal in accepting the position in the first place. In Zalora, Nadiem had the chance to build a mega startup and work with some of the best talents across the region. ^[9]

After leaving Zalora and while developing Gojek, Nadiem also worked as a chief innovation officer of Kartuku. ^[10] In the early days, Kartuku didn't have any competition in cashless payment solutions in Indonesia. ^[9] Kartuku was then acquired by Gojek to strengthen GoPay. ^[11]

Gojek

See also: Gojek

In 2010 Nadiem created Gojek, which is today a decacorn company with a valuation of over US$10 billion. ^[12] Gojek was first established as a call centre, offering only courier delivery and two-wheeled ride-hailing services. Today, Gojek has transformed into a super app, providing more than 20 services, ranging from transportation, food delivery, groceries, massage, house cleaning, logistics to a cashless digital payment platform called GoPay. ^[11]

Nadiem often uses a motorcycle taxi, known in Indonesia as an ojek. He saw this as a business opportunity and developed it into Gojek, which is founded in 2010. ^{[13] [14]}

Gojek was well received, and eventually received US$1,3 billion funding from investors, in a 2018-round led by Alphabet Inc's Google, JD.com Inc and Tencent Holdings. It thereby became the first Indonesian unicorn. ^[15] By 2019, the firm was worth up to US$10 billion ^[16]

On 21 October 2019, Gojek announced that Nadiem would leave the company to join president-elect Jokowi's Onward Indonesia Cabinet. His position as CEO was replaced by Gojek group president Andre Soelistyo and Gojek co-founder Kevin Aluwi as co-CEOs. ^[17] On the second reshuffle of the cabinet, announced at 28 April 2021, he was appointed as the first holder of Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology. ^[18]

Political career

Cabinet minister

Under Nadiem's tenure as Minister of Education and Culture, a decree prohibiting Indonesian schools from enforcing rules mandating the wearing of religious attire was signed into effect on 3 February 2021. Schools were given 30 days to repeal any rules making the wearing of religious attire compulsory before they would face sanctions. Nadiem supported the ban, stating that whether a person should wear religious clothing is "an individual's right… it is not the school's decision." ^[19]

Awards

• In 2016, Nadiem received The Straits Times Asian of the Year award and was the first Indonesian to receive the award since it was first established in 2012. ^[20]
• In 2018, Nadiem made it to Bloomberg 50 annual list of innovators. Bloomberg wrote that there was no other technology platform (app) that changed the lives of Indonesian as fast and as integrated as Gojek. ^[21]
• In May 2019, Nadiem was the youngest figure from Asia to receive the 24th Nikkei Asia Prize for economic and business innovation. Nadiem doubled the prize to Rp 860 million and donated the amount as education scholarship for Gojek drivers’ children. ^[22] Gojek contributed Rp 55 trillion (US$3.85 Billion) towards the Indonesian economy, with the average income of GoRide and GoCar partners increasing by 45% and 42% after joining Gojek, and culinary SMEs transaction volume increasing 55% after becoming GoFood merchant. ^[23]
• In 2017, Gojek made it to Fortune's Top 50 Companies That Changed The World, ^[24] ranking 17th worldwide. ^[25] In 2019 Gojek once again made it to Fortune's Top 50 Companies That Changed The World, and was the only Southeast Asian company to have been included twice in the list - this year leaping to number 11 out of 52 global companies. ^[25]
• In November 2019, Nadiem was the only Indonesian to be included on 100 Next list for Leaders category by the Time magazine. ^[26] Time's 100 Next list this year is to recognize the influence of rising stars who are shaping the future in their respective fields.

International organizations

With Melinda Gates and the Minister of Finance of Indonesia, Sri Mulyani, Nadiem served as one of the commissioners of Pathways for Prosperity for Technology and Inclusive Development that focuses on helping developing countries to adapt with various new digital innovations that change the working culture. ^[27]

Notes

1. as Ministry of Education and Culture

References

1. "Indonesian President Jokowi announces new Cabinet". The Straits Times. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
2. "In brief: Gojek is Southeast Asia's second 'decacorn' with estimated $10b valuation" . Retrieved 27 June 2019.
3. "Daftar Lengkap Menteri Kabinet Indonesia Maju Jokowi". nasional. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
4. Pham, Sherisse (21 October 2019). "Gojek CEO quits ride-hailing startup for Indonesian government job". CNN. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
5. "Biography of Nadiem Makarim" . Retrieved 27 March 2019.
6. Detikinet, Tim (23 July 2019). "Riwayat Nadiem Makarim dan Perjuangan Membesarkan Gojek". detikinet (in Indonesian). Retrieved 18 October 2019.
7. Hutton, Jeffrey (1 September 2016). "The Taxi Wars of Jakarta". Harvard Business School - Alumni. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
8. "Profil Nadiem Makarim". VIVA. 10 November 2016.
9. "Tech in Asia Indonesia - Komunitas Online Startup di Asia". id.techinasia.com. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
10. Sungkar, Aulia R. (20 June 2015). "Innovating ideas to revolutionize 'ojek'". The Jakarta Post.
11. Ayuwuragil, Kustin. "Perkuat Gopay, Gojek Caplok Kartuku, Midtrans dan Mapan". teknologi. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
12. Salna, Karlis (6 April 2019). "Go-Jek Joins 'Decacorn' Ranks With $10 Billion Valuation". Bloomberg. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
13. "Go-Jek founded from frustration" . Retrieved 27 March 2019.
14. "Face to watch in 2019: Nadiem Makarim, CEO of Gojek" . Retrieved 27 March 2019.
15. "Go-Jek raises US$1 billion in round led by Google, Tencent, JD" . Retrieved 27 March 2019.
16. "Go-Jek begins services in Thailand, says Philippine launch to be 'pretty fast': CEO" . Retrieved 27 March 2019.
17. Singh, Manish (21 October 2019). "Gojek founder and CEO Nadiem Makarim resigns to join Indonesian cabinet; Soelistyo and Aluwi to be new co-CEOs". Techcrunch.
18. Rizqo, Kanavino Ahmad (28 April 2021). "Ada Reshuffle, Ini Daftar Pejabat yang Dilantik Jokowi Hari Ini". detiknews (in Indonesian). Retrieved 28 April 2021.
19. "Indonesia bans forced religious attire in schools". BBC News. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2021.
20. "Go-Jek founder Nadiem Makarim receives Asian of the Year award" . Retrieved 28 March 2019.
21. "The Bloomberg 50". Bloomberg Businessweek.
22. "Termuda se-Asia, Nadiem Makarim Raih Penghargaan Nikkei Asia Prize - Katadata.co.id". katadata.co.id. 29 May 2019.
23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
24. Fortune’s Top 50 Companies That Changed The World 2019
25. GmbH, finanzen net. "GO-JEK Makes it Into Fortune's Change The World List, The Only Company from Southeast Asia on the List | Markets Insider". markets.businessinsider.com.
26. TIME 100 Next 2019: Nadiem Makarim
27. Keeton-Olsen, Danielle. "Digitization Key To Boosting Developing Economies, Says Report From Melinda Gates, Go-Jek's Nadiem Makarim". Forbes.

Business positions
Preceded by Position established	Chief Executive Officer of Gojek 2010–2019	Succeeded by Kevin Aluwi and Andre Soelistyo
Political offices
Preceded by Muhadjir Effendy	Minister of Education and Culture 2019–2021	Succeeded by Himself as Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology
Preceded by Himself as Minister of Education and Culture	Minister of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology 2021–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Bambang Brodjonegoro as Minister of Research and Technology