Djarum is an Indonesian kretek (clove cigarette) brand founded in April 21, 1951 by Oei Wie Gwan in Kudus, Central Java.
In 1951, Oei Wie Gwan, an ethnic Chinese businessman, bought a nearly defunct cigarette company in Kudus, Central Java known as NV Murup. The brand was called Djarum Gramofon which means 'gramophone needle' he shortened it into Djarum which only means needle.
The company's first brand was 'Djarum'. The company was nearly extinct when in 1963 a huge fire destroyed the company's factory which was followed by the death of Oei Wie Gwan. Nevertheless, the new owners - Oei Wie Gwan's children, Budi and Bambang Hartono, took the opportunity to rebuild the company.
In 1970, the company built a Research and Development Center to create new kretek blends. The company began exporting in 1969. In the same year, the company created the first machine-made kretek known as Djarum filter and in 21 April 1970, Djarum Super was launched. Djarum Super and Djarum 76 has been exported to the USA since 1982. Budi and Bambang Hartono diversified the company's activities outside of cigarette manufacturing.
After the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the company became a part of a consortium which bought Bank Central Asia (BCA) from BPPN, BCA is the largest private bank in Indonesia and was formerly a part of the Salim Group. Presently the majority stake of the bank (51%) is controlled by Djarum. In 2004 the Djarum Group acquired a 30 year BOT contract from the government to develop and renovate Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta under the Grand Indonesia superblock project.
The Djarum badminton club (PB Djarum) was founded in 1974 by company CEO Budi Hartono. Its players such as Liem Swie King and Alan Budikusuma have won numerous championships for Indonesia.
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