Lakshmi Mittal, in full Lakshmi Narayan Mittal, (born June 15, 1950, Sadulpur, Rajasthan, India), Indian businessman who was CEO (2006–21) of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company.
Mittal family Net Worth
Mittal family net worth stands currently at $15.9 billion.
Biography
In the 1960s Mittal’s family moved to Calcutta (Kolkata), where his father operated a steel mill. Mittal worked at the mill while studying science at St. Xavier’s College. After graduating (1970) he served as a trainee at the mill, and in 1976 he opened his own steel mill in Indonesia. He spent more than a decade learning how to run it efficiently. In 1989 Mittal purchased the beleaguered state-owned steel works in Trinidad and Tobago, which had been losing huge sums of money. A year later that facility had doubled its output and had become profitable. He used a similar formula for success in a series of acquisitions all around the world, purchasing failing (mostly state-run) outfits and sending in special management teams to reorganize the businesses.
Mittal’s business philosophy emphasized consolidation in an industry that had become weak and fragmented. Although demand for steel remained high, smaller steel companies had been unable to strike competitive deals with their major clients, notably automakers and appliance manufacturers. Mittal’s company, however, controlled about 40 percent of the American market for the flat-rolled steel used to make cars, which allowed the giant steelmaker to negotiate more favourable prices. In 2004 Mittal merged his companies, Ispat International and LNM Holdings, and acquired Ohio-based International Steel Group. The newly created company, Mittal Steel Co. NV, emerged from the deal as the world’s largest steelmaker. Two years later Mittal oversaw another merger when Mittal Steel joined with Arcelor to form ArcelorMittal. Mittal served as CEO of the joint company until 2021, when he stepped down. However, he remained executive chairman.
Mittal, who was sometimes described as being media shy, often made news for his notable expenditures, including a record £70 million ($128 million) for a 12-bedroom home in London and an estimated $60 million for his daughter’s 2004 wedding in Paris. His donation of £125,000 (about $180,000) to the Labour Party in 2001 created controversy when it was learned that Prime Minister Tony Blair had helped Mittal purchase a steel company in Romania even though Mittal’s firms backed a U.S. tariff opposed by British steel produce.
Mittals – Family Profile
Lakshmi Mittal Parents- Mohan Lal Mittal and Geeta Mittal.
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal was born in 1950 in Sadulpur, Rajasthan. His father ran a steel business, Nippon Denro Ispat. While Lakshmi Mittal went on his own path in the steel-making industry, the family business dealt mainly handled cold-rolling mills for sheet steel in Nagpur and Pune. As of today, the family business is still run by Lakshmi’s brothers Pramod and Vinod.
Lakshmi Mittal Siblings- Pramod Mittal, Vinod Mittal, Seema Lohia.
Lakshmi Mittal Spouse- Usha Mittal
Usha Mittal was born on January 1, 1970. Her father was a money lender. The eponymous college of Usha Mittal Institute of Technology promotes women’s education in India. She has been an integral part of Mittal’s steel business for 15 years and in 2997, Arcelor Mittal passed a resolution that ‘entrusted her with the temporary responsibility of managing’ the company in the absence of its directors.
Children of Lakshmi Mittal and Usha Mittal
Aditya Mittal was born in Indonesia, where he grew up, studying at Jakarta International School. He got his bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He worked with the investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston in the mergers department before joining the family business in 1997. He was appointed the head of Mergers and Acquisitions of Mittal Steel in 1999 and has been holding that position ever since. He was the head of the department when Arcelor was acquired by Mittal followed by the merger that led to the current Arcelor Mittal conglomerate.
Vanisha Mittal
Vanisha Mittal topped the Forbes list of the daughters of the world’s richest individuals in 2007. She graduated from the European Business School in business and the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London) in South Asian Studies. In 2004, she married Amit Bhatia and the wedding became the talk of the year. It was a lavish affair where 1000 guests were invited, 12 Boeing jets were hired, over 10,000 flowers used for wedding decoration, 45 professional chefs and a stream of designer dresses, jewelry and food were featured. The wedding was said to have costed $78 million.
Career
Mr. Mittal began his career working in his family’s steelmaking business in India before moving to Indonesia in 1976 to set up a small steel company that over time grew to become ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company and one of the foremost industrial companies in the world. He is widely recognised for the role he played in restructuring the steel industry towards a more consolidated and globalised model, pursuing and successfully integrating many acquisitions in North America, South America, Europe, South Africa and the CIS. Today ArcelorMittal continues to be the largest and most global steel manufacturer.
In 2004, Mittal Steel was founded following the merger of Ispat International and LNM Holdings, and the simultaneous acquisition of International Steel Group, becoming came the world’s leading steel producer. Shortly after, in 2006, Mittal Steel launched an ambitious bid to merge with Arcelor, creating ArcelorMittal.
Mr. Mittal’s contribution to business and global industry has been widely recognised. In 1996 he was awarded ‘Steelmaker of the Year’ by New Steel in the United States and in 1998 the ‘Willy Korf Steel Vision Award’ by World Steel Dynamics for outstanding vision, entrepreneurship, leadership and success in global steel development. He was named Fortune magazine’s ‘European Businessman of the Year’ in 2004 and ‘Business Person of the Year’ by the Sunday Times, ‘International Newsmaker of the Year’ by Time Magazine and ‘Person of the Year’ by the Financial Times in 2006 for his outstanding business achievements. In January 2007, Mr. Mittal was presented with a Fellowship from King’s College London, the college’s highest award.
Mr. Mittal, with his wife Usha Mittal, is also an active philanthropist. In 2017 the Mittal family made a significant gift to Harvard University, where Mr. Mittal is a member of the Global Advisory Council, to support the Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard University. The Mittal family has also made important gifts to the Great Ormond Street Hospital, supporting the Mittal Children’s Medical Centre which formally opened in January 2018, and UNICEF, specifically on the topic of child malnutrition in India. Mr. Mittal and his wife Usha Mittal have a son, Aditya Mittal (who is CEO of ArcelorMittal), and a daughter, Vanisha Mittal Bhatia (who is a Director of ArcelorMittal). Mr. Mittal is a citizen of India.
Accomplishments
Lakshmi Mittal has gained international recognition as a leader in the steel industry. In 1996 he was awarded “Steelmaker of the Year” by New Steel in the United States and named Fortune magazine’s “European Businessman of the Year” in 2004, and “Person of the Year” by the Financial Times in 2006. In October 2010, Mittal received the World Steel Association’s medal in recognition of his contribution to the sustainable development of the global steel industry. In January 2013, Lakshmi Mittal was awarded a Doctor Honoris Causa by the AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland.