Michael and his brother Robert Budi are the owners of kretek (clove cigarette) manufacturer Djarum, which they inherited from their father Oei Wie Gwan upon his death in 1963.
Growing the business to a large conglomerate including Bank Central Asia, electronics, plantations and various properties, they became the richest in the country with Michael himself having a net worth of $25.1 billion as of December 2024.
[7][8] As the cigarette business continued to grow, the group began expanding to other fields, founding an electronics brand Polytron in 1975.
[16] The shares were transferred to an Indonesian holding company PT Dwimuria Investama Andalan in 2016 during a tax amnesty program.
In an interview, he said that "bridge is how you train yourself in making good decisions and risk-taking" and that his uncle introduced him to the game during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia.
[27] He had also participated in other competitions abroad, in one case self-admittedly falling asleep during a finals match due to drinking wine beforehand.