Lakshmi Mittal
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| Born: | June 15, 1950 Sadulpur, Rajasthan, India |
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| Occupation: | Global steel businessman |
| Net worth: |  $27.7 billion USD, Sunday Times Rich List |
| Website: | Profile on mittalsteel.com |
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (born June 15, 1950) is a London-based Indian billionaire industrialist, born in Sadulpur, in Churu district of Rajasthan, India, and residing in Kensington, London. He was listed in the Forbes List of Billionaires (2006) as the 5th richest man and the richest Indian in the world with an estimated fortune of $27.7 billion and, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2006, is the richest in the UK, with a net worth of £14.8 billion.
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[edit] Early History
He spent his first years in Sadulpur, living with his extended family on bare concrete floors and rope beds in a house built by his grandfather. His family, from the Marwari Agarwal caste, was from humble roots; his grandfather worked for the Tarachand Ghanshyam Das 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 graduated from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta with a commerce degree in 1969. His classmates knew him as a sharp student who was good with numbers.
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.
[edit] Today
Today he is chairman and CEO of the Mittal Steel Company NV, which is the world's largest producer of steel, with steel assets in Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, South Africa, Poland, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the United States, Ukraine and other countries. He was the Fortune European Businessman of the Year for 2004.
In 2002 he was embroiled in a political scandal dubbed Mittalgate with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Many suspected that a donation by Mittal to the British Labour Party had led to Blair's intervention (a letter to the Romanian Prime Minister) in a business deal favouring Mittal. On July 13, 2005 it was announced that he had donated £2 million to the Labour Party.
[edit] Personal wealth
In March 2006, he was reported the fifth wealthiest person in the world by Forbes Magazine (up from 63rd richest in 2004). The Mittal family owns 88% of Mittal Steel, the world's largest steel company.[1]
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 highest price ever paid for a house.[2] Formerly, this house was the residence of Paul Reuter, the founder of the Reuters news service.[3]
Mittal has two children. 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 most expensive wedding in world history. His son Aditya is a director of Mittal Steel.
[edit] References
- ^ "Mittal announces bid for rival Arcelor", The Guardian, January 27, 2006.
- ^ The sale was widely misreported at £70 million, "$128M Spend for London House", MSNBC, April 12, 2004. before accurate figures were available from HM Land Registry."Super rich", The Guardian, April 17, 2006.
- ^ "Super rich", The Guardian, April 17, 2006.
