| Lakshmi Mittal लक्ष्मी मित्तल |
|
|---|---|
| Born | 15 June 1950 Sadulpur, Rajasthan, India |
| Residence | London, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Ethnicity | Marwari |
| Citizenship | India |
| Alma mater | St. Xavier's College, Calcutta[1] |
| Occupation | Chairman & CEO of ArcelorMittal Director of Goldman Sachs Owner of Karrick Limited[2] Co-owner of Queens Park Rangers F.C. |
| Net worth | US$ 31.1 billion (2011)[3] |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Children | Vanisha Mittal Aditya Mittal |
| Awards | Padma Vibhushan (2007) |
Lakshmi Narayan Mittal (लक्ष्मी मित्तल; born 15 June 1950)[4] is an Indian steel magnate. He is the chairman and chief executive officer of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaking company.
Mittal is the richest man in India, Asia and the United Kingdom[5], and second in Europe[6] and is presently the sixth richest individual in the world with a personal wealth of US$31.1 billion. He is the 44th "most powerful person" of the 68 individuals named in Forbes's Most Powerful People list. His daughter Vanisha Mittal's wedding was the most expensive in the recorded history of the world.[7][8]
Mittal is an independent director of Goldman Sachs, member of Board of Directors to Goldman Sachs Media/Film IP Group, member of the Board of Directors of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company,[9] World Steel Association, Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan, the International Investment Council in South Africa, the Investors' Council to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the World Economic Forum’s International Business Council, the World Steel Association's Executive Committee, the Presidential International Advisory Board of Mozambique and the International Iron and Steel Institute’s Executive Committee.[10]
He also presently serves as a board council member of the Prime Minister of India's Global Advisory Council of Overseas Indians.[11] and members in the Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management, Executive Board at Indian School of Business and St. Xavier's College, Calcutta Alumni Association, London Chapter.
In 2006, Financial Times named him "Person of the Year". In 2007, Time magazine included him in their "100 most influential persons in the world".[12]
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Lakshmi Narayan Mittal alias Lakshmi Niwas Mittal was born into a Marwari business family in Churu district of Rajasthan, India. His family moved from (Rajgarh)Sadulpur, Rajasthan to Calcutta in West Bengal. He graduated from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in business and accounting with first class.[13] He has two siblings (brothers) named Pramod Mittal and Vinod Mittal. His father, Mohan Lal Mittal, ran a steel business, Nippon Denro Ispat. Until the 1990s, the family's main assets in India were a cold-rolling mill for sheet steels in Nagpur and an alloy steels plant near Pune. Today, the family business, including a large integrated steel plant near Mumbai, is run by Lakshmi's brothers, Pramod and Vinod, but Lakshmi has no connection with it.[14]
Mittal started his career working in the family's steel making 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 1976, due to differences with his father, mother and brothers,branched out on his the LNM Group, and he has been responsible for the development of its businesses ever since. Mittal Steel is a global steel producer with operations in 14 countries.
After 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.[15] In 2008, Mittal awarded Abhinav Bindra with Rs. 1.5 Crore (Rs. 15 million), 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.
In 2002, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and Usha Mittal foundation and the Government of Rajasthan partnered together to establish a university named the LNM Institute of Information Technology (LNMIIT) in Jaipur as an autonomous non-profit organization.
In 2009, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal and Usha Mittal foundation along with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan founded the Usha Lakshmi Mittal Institute of Management in New Delhi.
Lakshmi Mittal successfully employed Marek Dochnal's consultancy to influence Polish officials in the privatization of PHS steel group, which was Poland's largest. Dochnal was later arrested for bribing Polish officials on behalf of Russian agents in a separate affair.[16]
In 2007, Polish government said it wants to renegotiate the 2004 sale to Arcelor Mittal.[17]
Employees of Mittal have accused him of "slave labour" conditions after multiple fatalities in his mines.[18] During December 2004, twenty-three miners died in explosions in his mines in Kazakhstan caused by faulty gas detectors.
Mr. Mittal has been accused of running a series of coal mines in Kazakhstan with abhorrent safety records. Between 2004 and 2007, the lax standards were responsible for the deaths of 91 coalminers and the subject of a criminal investigation. Witnesses to a 2006 explosion, which claimed the lives of 41 people, maintain that, despite the plumes of flammable gas, managers at the mines pushed the employees to work so that they could meet their production as well as other targets. One employee even told the Times, "The pressures local managers put us under to meet targets so that they can collect their bonuses are more and more stressful. We are being exploited like animals." Former miner turned trade unionist Pavel Shumkin even claimed, "The miners all agree: compared with life now under Mittal, for them everything was better in Soviet times."[19]
In 2002, Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price obtained a letter written by Tony Blair to the Romanian Government in support of Mittal's LNM steel company, which was in the process of bidding to buy Romania's state-owned steel industry.[20][21][22] This revelation caused controversy, because Mittal had given £125,000 to the British Labour Party the previous year. Although Blair defended his letter as simply "celebrating the success" of a British company, he was criticised because LNM was registered in the Dutch Antilles and employed less than 1% of its workforce in the UK.[23] LNM was a "major global competitor of Britain's own struggling steel industry".[24]
Blair's letter hinted that the privatisation of the firm and sale to Mittal might help smooth the way for Romania's entry into the European Union.[20] It also had a passage, removed just prior to Blair's signing of it, describing Mittal as "a friend".[23]
Recently, 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.[25] 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.[26]
On 19 February 2010, Flavio Briatore resigned as QPR chairman, and sold further shares in the club to Ecclestone, making Ecclestone the single largest shareholder.[27]
Mittal purchased the Irish Steel plant based in Cork from the government for a nominal fee of £1 m. 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.[28]
His residence at 18-19 Kensington Palace Gardens--which was purchased from Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for £57 million (US$128 million)--made it the world's most expensive house at the time.[29] 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 referred to as the "Taj Mittal".[30] It has 12 bedrooms, an indoor pool, Turkish baths and parking for 20 cars.[31]
Mittal bought No. 6 Palace Greens, Kensington Gardens, formerly owned by financier Noam Gottesman, at £117 million for his son Aditya Mittal who is married to Megha Mittal, owner and director of the Board of the German fashion luxury brand Escada.
Mittal bought No. 9A Palace Greens, Kensington Gardens, formerly the British Philippines embassy, at £70 million in 2008 for his daughter Vanisha Mittal Bhatia Bhatia who is married to Amit Bhatia a businessman and a philanthropist.
Mittal owns three prime properties collectively worth £500 million on the "Billionaire's Row" at Kensington Palace Gardens.[32]
Mittal also owns another London home at 46B, The Bishops Avenue called the Summer Palace. It's dubbed as "Millionaires Row" and is reportedly for sale at £40 million.
Mittal also owns a 5,500 sq ft penthouse apartment at 148-150 Old Park Lane London, just above Hard Rock Cafe which he purchased for £7 million in July 2002 from Lord Alan Sugar.
In 2005, he also bought a colonial bungalow for $30 million[33] at No. 22, Aurangzeb Road in New Delhi, India, the most exclusive street in the city occupied by embassies and millionaires, and rebuilt it as a house.
In January 2011, Lakshmi Mittal bought a luxury home in Scotland. Mittal has knocked down a £4 million property to build his new home, valued at around £15 million, making it Scotland’s most expensive home. The Mittal mansion is coming up in one of the most elite neighborhoods, right near the Gleneagles golf course in Perthshire County. This luxury villa has six bedrooms and two kitchens. The wallpaper and furniture are from Ralph Lauren’s home collection. The wooden flooring and tiles were imported from Germany and a luxury bathroom is estimated to be worth £80,000.
Mittal is now planning to build a "Zero Carbon" footprint estate in Surrey, a 340-acre estate also called Alderbrook Park which was built as a country estate during the 19th century but was part-demolished in the 1950s and replaced with a less-attractive home. He purchased the estate for £5.25 million and is planning to spend £25 million on it to make it 100 per cent self-sufficient and eco-friendly. The unique modern design will not only ensure the house is zero-carbon, but will make the entire 340-acre estate carbon negative. The house will be built on a stone plinth, which will provide various terraces on which to enjoy the cocktail hour. It will have at least 10 bedrooms, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, a fitness centre, an under-ground art gallery, tennis courts, sculpture garden, an arboretum and croquet lawn.
| Year of Award or Honor | Name of Award or Honor | Awarding Organization |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | "Dostyk" 1 | Republic of Kazakhstan. |
| 2008 | Forbes Lifetime Achievement Award | Forbes. |
| 2007 | Padma Vibhushan | President of India. |
| 2007 | Grand Cross of Civil Merit | Government of Spain. |
| 2007 | Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Leadership Award | Business Council for International Understanding. |
| 2007 | Fellowship | King's College London. |
| 2004 | European Businessman of the Year | Forbes. |
| 2004 | Entrepreneur of the Year | Wall Street Journal. |
| 2004 | 8th honorary Willy Korf Steel Vision Award | American Metal Market and World Steel Dynamics. |
| 1996 | Steel Maker of the Year | New Steel. |