LAKSHMI NIWAS MITTAL

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal born 15 June 1950 is an Indian born industrialist based in the United Kingdom. He was born in Sadulpur village, in the Churu district of Rajasthan, India. He is the CEO and founder of and has been the chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal since the merge. He also serves as a non-executive director of Goldman Sachs, EADS and ICICI Bank and is the chairman of the World Steel Association. The Financial Times named Lakshmi Mittal its 2006 Person of the Year. In May 2007, he was named one of the "100 Most Influential People" by Time magazine. As of 2009, Mittal is the 8th richest person in the world. He is also the richest person in the United Kingdom with personal wealth of US$19.3 billion or £10.8 billion in 2009.BiographyLakshmi Narayan Mittal also known as Lakshmi Niwas Mittal began his career working in the family’s steelmaking business in India, and has over 30 years of experience working in steel and related industries. Mittal founded the company Mittal Steel (formerly the LNM Group) in 1976 and has been responsible for the development of its businesses ever since. Mittal Steel is a global steel producer with operations in 14 countries. Mittal pioneered the development of integrated mini-mills and the use of Direct Reduced Iron or “DRI” as a scrap substitute for steelmaking and led the consolidation process of the global steel industry. Mittal Steel is the largest steelmaker in the world, with shipments of 42.1 million tons of steel and profits of over $22 billion in 2004. Mittal was awarded Fortune magazines “European Businessman of the Year 2004” and also “Steelmaker of the Year” in 1996 by New Steel, and the “Willy Korf Steel Vision Award” in 1998, for outstanding vision, entrepreneurship, leadership and success in global steel development from American Metal Market and PaineWeber’s World Steel Dynamics. In 2002 he was involved in a political scandal with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, when a donation he made to the Labour party led to Blair's intervention in a business deal favoring Mittal. It was announced later that he donated £2 million to the Labour Party. Mittal is an active philanthropist. Mittal is a member of the Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan, the International Investment Council in South Africa, the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council and the International Iron and Steel Institute’s Executive Committee. He is a member in the Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management (the business School of Northwestern University).
CareerMr. Mittal began his career working in the family's steelmaking business in India, and in 1976, when the family founded its own steel business; he set out to establish its international division, beginning with the buying of a run-down plant in Indonesia. Shortly afterwards he married Usha, the daughter of a well-to-do moneylender. In 1994, due to differences with his father, mother and brothers, he branched out on his own, taking over the international operations of the Mittal steel business (representing approximately 22- 23% of the whole group), which was already owned by the family. Mittal's family never spoke publicly about the reasons for the split. On November 6th, 2009 it was announced that the Mittal Family Trust agreed to purchase Germany’s insolvent fashion group, Escada, including Escada’s main business, brand rights, production facilities and distribution network. Megha Mittal, the 33 year old daughter-in-law of Lakshmi Mittal, was reported by journalists at Bloomberg News to be the main instigator of the deal. The purchase price was not disclosed.Personal WealthIn 2009, Forbes Magazine listed Mittal the world's 8th richest person with personal wealth of US$19.3 billion. In 2008, Mittal was reported to be the 4th wealthiest person in the world, and the wealthiest in Asia, by Forbes Magazine (up from 61st richest in 2004) up one place since a year before. The Mittal family owns a controlling majority stake in ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel company.CharityAfter witnessing India win only one medal, bronze, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and one medal, silver, at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Mittal decided to set up Mittal Champions Trust with US$9 million to support 10 Indian athletes with world-beating potential.[8].In 2008 Mittal awarded Abhinav Bindra with Rs. 1.5 Crore, for getting India its first individual Olympic gold medal in shooting. For Comic Relief 2007, he matched the money raised (~£1 million) on the celebrity special BBC programme, The Apprentice. ArcelorMittal also has a very active CSR program under which it sets out its path to produce Safe Sustainable Steel. The company also operates the ArcelorMittal Foundation, which provides support to many different community projects around the world in the countries where ArcelorMittal operates.
Queens Park RangersRecently, Mittal had emerged as a leading contender to buy and sell Barclays Premiership clubs Wigan and Everton. However on 20 December 2007 it was announced that the Mittal family had purchased a 20 per cent shareholding in Queens Park Rangers football club joining Flavio Briatore and Mittal's friend Bernie Ecclestone. As part of the investment Mittal's son-in-law, Amit Bhatia, took a place on the board of directors. The combined investment in the struggling club sparked suggestions that Mittal might be looking to join the growing ranks of wealthy individuals investing heavily in English football and emulating other similar benefactors such as Roman Abramovich.
Environmental damageLakshmi Mittal purchased the Irish Steel plant based in Cork from the Government for a nominal fee of £1. Three years later in 2001, it was closed, leaving 400 people redundant. Subsequent environmental issues at the site have been a cause for criticism. The Government tried to sue in the High Court to have him pay for the clean-up of Cork Harbour but failed. The clean up was expected to cost €70m.Personal lifeHe presently resides in Kensington, London. His residence at Kensington Palace Gardens was purchased from Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for £57 million (US$128 million), making it the world's most expensive house, at that date.Mittal's house in Kensington, London is decorated with marble taken from the same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal. The extravagant show of wealth has been deemed the "Taj Mittal".It has 12 bedrooms, an indoor pool, Turkish baths and parking for 20 cars.Kensington Gardens, currently owned by financier Noam Gottesman. The Guardian newspaper reported that the purchase price would be £127 million, which would set a record for the most expensive house ever sold in Britain. The paper noted that the house on "Billionaire's Boulevard" was expected to be the home of Mittal's son.Wikinews has related news: Lakshmi Mittal tops Sunday Times Rich List
Awards2008: Padma Vibhushan2007: Bessemer Gold Medal2006: Person of the Year - Financial Times2004: European Businessman of the Year - Fortune magazine1998: Willy Korf Steel Vision Award - American Metal Market and PaineWeber’s World Steel Dynamics1996: Steelmaker of the Year - New Steel