Lakshmi Niwas Mittal (Hindi: [ˈləkʃmi nɪˈʋaːs ˈmɪtːəl] (listeni); born 15 June 1950) is an Indian steel magnate, based in the United Kingdom. He is the Executive Chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world’s second largest steelmaking company, as well as chairman of stainless steel manufacturer Aperam. Mittal owns 38% of ArcelorMittal and holds a 3% stake in EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers.
The majority of Mittal’s fortune is derived from a 38% stake in ArcelorMittal, the world’s biggest steelmaker outside of China. He and his family own the stake through a trust, according to the company’s website in February 2023. The entire fortune is attributed to Mittal to reflect his status as founder, chairman and chief executive officer.
Mittal has collected more than $4 billion in dividends and another $2 billion that he paid himself from family-owned LNM Holdings in 2004, when LNM merged with publicly traded Ispat International to create Mittal Steel. The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of these proceeds as well as taxes, charitable contributions and market performance.
The billionaire has three mansions collectively worth about $350 million on London’s ‘Billionaire’s Row’ on Kensington Palace Gardens, according to purchase records from the UK Land Registry. He also owns other properties in England, Scotland and India.
He has 38% of Aperam, a Luxembourg-headquartered maker of stainless steel and 49% of HPCL-Mittal Energy, which is valued using the average price-to-sales multiple of three publicly traded peers, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. He also has a stake in closely held Queens Park Rangers soccer team in London.
In 2005, Forbes ranked Mittal as the third-richest person in the world, making him the first Indian citizen to be ranked in the top ten in the publication’s annual list of the world’s richest people. He was ranked the sixth-richest person in the world by Forbes in 2011, but dropped to 82nd place in March 2015. He is also the “57th-most powerful person” of the 72 individuals named in Forbes’ “Most Powerful People” list for 2015. His daughter Vanisha Mittal’s wedding was the second-most expensive in recorded history.
Mittal has been a member of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs since 2008. He sits on the World Steel Association‘s executive committee, and is a member of the Global CEO Council of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Foreign Investment Council in Kazakhstan, the World Economic Forum‘s International Business Council, and the European Round Table of Industrialists. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the Cleveland Clinic.
In 2005, The Sunday Times named him “Business Person of 2006”, the Financial Times named him “Person of the Year”, and Time magazine named him “International Newsmaker of the Year 2006”. In 2007, Time magazine included him in their “Time 100” list
Biography
Education: St Xavier’s College, Agh University of Science & Technology
Lakshmi Mittal was born in Rajasthan, India, in 1950, the son of a steel producer. His parents named him Lakshmi after the Hindu goddess of wealth. He studied commerce at St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, and moved to Indonesia at age 26 to build his first steel mill, on rice paddies owned by his father.
He created Mittal Steel by combining his publicly owned Ispat International and closely held LNM Holdings in 2004, paying himself a $2 billion dividend soon after. A year later, he bought billionaire Wilbur Ross’s International Steel Group for $4.7 billion.
In 2006, Mittal Steel won a five-month battle to buy Luxembourg-based Arcelor to create the world’s largest steelmaker. Mittal has lived in London since 1995, and owns at least $350 million in property in the UK.
Milestones
- 1950 Born into a steelmaking family in Rajasthan, India.
- 1969 Graduates St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata, joins father’s firm.
- 1994 Mittal and his brothers split up the family business.
- 1997 Ispat International raises $776 million with initial public offering.
- 1998 Buys Inland Steel Co., giving Ispat foothold in the U.S.
- 2004 Takes $2 billion cash dividend from LNM before merger with Ispat.
- 2004 Buys International Steel Group to create Mittal Steel.
- 2006 Wins battle to take over Arcelor SA for $33.1 billion
- 2011 Spins off stainless-steel producer Aperam.
- 2016 ArcelorMittal announces the opening of a plant in Detroit.
