Andre Soelistyo, Indonesia’s Megamerger Victor

For most of 2020, ride-hailing pioneer Gojek in Jakarta was in on-again, off-again negotiations to merge with its archrival, Singapore’s Grab Holdings Inc. But after talks hit an impasse, Soelistyo, a former private equity executive who oversaw Gojek’s diversification into services such as mobile payments, came up with a new plan. Soon he was in separate discussions with Tokopedia, the operator of one of Indonesia’s most popular online shopping portals and its most valuable tech business after Gojek itself.

The merger created a company of remarkable breadth. GoTo, as the new entity is called, provides motorbike taxi rides and financial services, delivers food, sells consumer products and groceries, sets up medical consultations, and streams movies, among dozens of offerings. It’s the rough equivalent of Amazon.com, DoorDash, Netflix, PayPal, and Uber combined. The next step is selling international investors on GoTo’s potential. Soelistyo is preparing to take the company public in Jakarta early next year before pursuing a listing in New York, targeting a public market valuation of $40 billion.