Draft:Winston Utomo

Utomo was born and raised in Surabaya, Indonesia. He is the eldest of two siblings. His younger brother, William Utomo, is also involved in IDN and serves as its chief operating officer. ^{[3] [4] [5] [6] [7]}

Utomo pursued higher education in the United States. He completed his undergraduate studies at the USC Marshall School of Business and later obtained a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York, graduating magna cum laude. His academic studies focused on business, media, and management. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

After completing his graduate studies, Utomo began his professional career at Google Singapore. In 2014, he founded IDN together with William Utomo. ^{[12] [13] [14] [15] [16]}

During its early years, IDN received external investment from venture capital firms and strategic investors. Funding rounds involved investors such as East Ventures, North Base Media, GDP Venture, Central Exchange Hong Kong, East Ventures Growth, Charoen Pokphand, LINE Venture, Mayapada Group, KMIF, OCBC Bank, Dentsu Group, and V Media Ventures ^{[17] [18] [19] [20] [21]}

During Utomo’s tenure as chief executive officer, IDN expanded beyond digital publishing into additional business areas, including livestreaming services, creator-focused platforms, and entertainment-related ventures. The company was also involved in acquisitions in the entertainment and creator sectors, including JKT48 in 2022 and Boss Creator in 2023. ^{[22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30]}

As of the mid-2020s, IDN operates multiple media and technology platforms in Indonesia and reports having tens of millions of monthly active users. ^{[31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40]}

Utomo has been the subject of coverage by regional and international media in relation to his work in digital media and entrepreneurship. In 2017, he was included in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in the Media, Marketing & Advertising category. ^{[41] [42] [43]}. In the same year, he received the Marketeers Netizen Award at Jakarta Marketing Week 2017. ^{[44] [45] [46]}

In 2022, Utomo was listed in Tatler Asia’s Gen.T List, which highlights emerging leaders across Asia. In 2023, he was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in Indonesia following an evaluation process conducted by the global entrepreneurship organization Endeavor.^{[47] [48] [49]}

In 2024, Utomo received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Indonesia together with William Utomo. In 2025, Utomo received further recognition in relation to his leadership approach, being cited as a Most People-Focused CEO, reflecting external acknowledgment of organizational culture development, talent management, and human resource practices at IDN.^{[50] [51] [52] [53][54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [60] [61] [62]}

Utomo is also a member of Global Shapers Jakarta, a community under the World Economic Forum focused on youth leadership and social initiatives. ^{[63] [64]}