How ruthless execution delivered GoTo CEO his 1st quarterly profit

With additional reporting by Putra Muskita and Thu Huong Le

When Patrick Walujo assumed the role of CEO at GoTo in June 2023, he was largely known for co-founding private equity firm Northstar Group – which now manages US$2.6 billion in committed equity capital – and as an early backer of Gojek.

Indonesian analysts, in particular, were enthusiastic about the appointment, as Walujo has had an illustrious career in investments. Still, this marked his first time running a company of GoTo’s size, and his ascension came as Gojek’s co-founders had all departed.

Image credit: Tech in Asia

In August 2023, just two months after Walujo assumed leadership, GoTo sold two of its units for undisclosed sums. Its entertainment business GoPlay was bought by former GoTo executive Edy Sulistyo, while ticketing platform Loket – which operates the group’s GoTix offering – was sold to Loket CEO Bagus Utama.

But the firm’s boldest move came in December 2023, when GoTo sold 75% of Tokopedia to a rapidly growing foreign competitor: TikTok.

This deal underscores the new CEO’s ruthless execution, which appears to have borne an important fruit: For the first time ever, GoTo hit profitability on an adjusted basis in Q4 2023.

The task of transforming GoTo into a consistently profitable enterprise, however, extends far beyond a single quarter. For one, GoTo’s share price, at 68 rupiah (0.43 cents), is still in the doldrums. Secondly, Walujo is also reportedly acting as CEO temporarily, as he’s still serving as Northstar’s managing partner.

GoTo declined Tech in Asia’s request for an interview with Walujo. However, a person familiar with the matter says that the CEO is “committed for the long term.”

First Gojek investor

As far as power brokers go in Indonesian business, Walujo has the bona fides. After graduating from Jakarta’s Canisius College – one of Indonesia’s oldest and most prestigious high schools – he got his bachelor’s degree from New York’s Cornell University.

See also: Pandu Sjahrir, Indonesian tech’s power broker, on his next act: energy transition

That was followed by a three-year stint at Goldman Sachs and a senior vice president role at Richard Li-owned investment firm Pacific Century Group from 2000 to 2003.

His wife, Ayu Patricia Rachmat, is the daughter of Indonesian business magnate Theodore Permadi Rachmat, who is also the founder of Triputra Group and the former CEO of the Astra International conglomerate. In 2023, Forbes ranked the older Rachmat – whose net worth is about US$3.6 billion – among Indonesia’s 20 richest people.

In March 2003, Walujo co-founded Northstar Group. Over a decade later in 2014, the firm became Gojek’s first institutional investor through its affiliate VC firm, NSI Ventures (now Openspace Ventures), though the amount was undisclosed.

“This is a war, and we have to win this”

Will he stay on?