Steel Tycoon - Laxmi Mittal

Laxmi Mittal - Steel Tycoon L.N. Mittal - Laxmi Niwas Mittal [Chairman and CEO of Mittal Steel]
Born: June 15, 1950
Sadulpur, Rajasthan, India
Occupation: CEO & Chairman of Arcelor Mittal
Net worth: $32 billion USD

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (born June 15, 1950) is a London-based Indian billionaire industrialist, born in Sadulpur Village, in Churu district of Rajasthan, India, and residing in Kensington, London. He is the fifth richest person in the world, with a fortune of US$32 billion according to Forbes. The Financial Times named Mittal its 2006 Person of the Year.

In May 2007, he was named one of the "100 most influential people" by Time magazine.

Early history -
He spent his first years in India, living with his extended family on bare floors and rope beds in a house built by his grandfather. His family, from the Marwari Aggarwal caste, was from humble roots; his grandfather worked for the Tarachand Ghanshyamdas Poddar firm, one of the leading Marwari industrial firms of pre-independence India. They eventually moved to Kolkata where his father, Mohan, became a partner in a steel company and made a fortune. Lakshmi was a keen student and his classmates knew him as a sharp student who was good with numbers. He graduated at the top from St. Xaviers in Kolkata with a Commerce Degree in Business and Accounting in 1969.[citation needed]

Lakshmi Mittal began his career working in the family's steelmaking business in India and in 1976, when the family founded its own steel business, Mittal 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 and brothers, he branched out on his own, taking over the international operations of the Mittal steel business, which was already owned by the family. The family or Mittal never spoke to the public about the reasons for the split. Although, rumors have it that it was due to financial instablity between the brothers.

Today -
For last three consecutive years, he has been the richest person in the United Kingdom and is the President of the Board of Directors and CEO of Arcelor Mittal which is the world's largest producer of low and mid-grade steels, with assets in France, Belgium, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa, Poland, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and the United States. On July 13, 2005 it was announced that he had donated £2 million to the Labour Party, and on January 16, 2007 it was announced that he had donated a further £3 million.[citation needed] Although he has been living abroad for many years, he claims he will remain an Indian.

Personal wealth -
In March 2007, he was reported the 5th wealthiest person in the world by Forbes Magazine (up from 61st richest in 2004). The Mittal family owns 44% of Arcelor Mittal, the world's largest steel company.

His residence at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens was bought from Formula One car racing boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for £57.1 million ($105.7 million), the world's highest price ever paid for a house. Formerly, this house was the residence of Paul Reuter, the founder of the Reuters news service.

Mittal has two children. His son Aditya Mittal is the CFO of Arcelor Mittal. He paid over £30 million/$65 million to host his daughter Vanisha's wedding celebration in Vaux le Vicomte on 22 June 2004 and an engagement ceremony at the Palace of Versailles on 20 June 2004, the world's most expensive wedding ever. He even hosted a Bollywood night where superstars like Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan, Shahrukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai performed. Kylie Minogue also sang on stage.

His house in Kensington, London uses marble taken from the same quarry that supplied the Taj Mahal. The extravagant show of wealth has been deemed the "Taj Mittal."

Recently, Mittal - who is twice as rich as Roman Abramovich - has emerged as a leading contender to buy Barclays Premiership club Birmingham City, but has so far refused to comment. On June 25th Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung bought a 29.9% stake in Birmingham City making a full takeover from Mittal incresingly unlikely.

Charity -
After seeing India get just one bronze medal in the 2000 Olympics, and a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics, he decided to set up Mittal Champions Trust with U$9 million to support 10 Indian athletes with world-beating potential.

For Comic Relief 2007 he matched the money raised (~£1million) on the celebrity special BBC programme, The Apprentice.

Awards -

• 2006: Person of the Year - Financial Times
• 2004: European Businessman of the Year - Fortune magazine
• 1998: Willy Korf Steel Vision Award - American Metal Market and PaineWeber’s World Steel Dynamics
• 1996: Steelmaker of the Year - New Steel

Contact Address :
Lakshmi Mittal
Summer Palace
The Bishops Avenue
Hampstead Garden Suburb London
N2 OAB Great Britain
Phone : 0171 629 7988
Website : www.mittalsteel.com

[ Taken From Wikipedia]