Biography - Lakshmi Nivas Mittal
Indian born British steel tycoon
Born on June 15th 1950 in Rajasthan
Family moved to Kolkata from Rajasthan
His father Mohanlal Mittal set up a small steel mill in Kolkata.
Finished his bachelors degree in business and accounting Mittal began his early career in his
fathers steel firm in the early 70s
In 1976 Mittal moved to Indonesia and acquired a steel plant ISPAT INDO.
His success has largely been built on buying up loss making steel owned mills and quickly turning
them around.
His wife Usha runs the Indonesian business and his son Aditya and daughter Vanisha are
members of the board of directors of Mittal steel.
Mittal Group got into steel industry in 1976 when M L Mittal left country because of India’s
restrictive economic policies. He went to Indonesia to set up ISPAT INDO.
Group started spreading its activities across the globe in 1989 when it acquired an ailing plant in
Trinidad and Tobago which was revived
1994 group underwent partition of business interest in the family. All the foreign business were
hived of into a separate group ISPAT International under the control of L N Mittal while Indian
operations remained with his younger brothers P K Mittal and V K Mittal
Current Status
World’s largest and most global steel company with shipment of 49.2 million tones and revenue
of over $28.1 billion in 2005 and net income of $3.4 billion
No. 1 high quality steel producer with crude steel capacity with more than 70 million tons per
annum
Own steel making facilities in 16 countries spanning 4 continents
Employs 224000 people spanning 49 different nationalities
Awards
Mittal was awarded Fortune magazines “European Businessman of the Year 2004”
Previously, he was awarded “Steelmaker of the Year” in 1996 by New Steel in the USA
The “Willy Korf Steel Vision Award” in June 1998
In March 2005, Forbes named him the third richest man in the world and the richest non-
American, with a wealth of $25 billion.
L N 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.
L N Mittal is on the advisory board of the Kellogg School Of Management in the US
“The steel industry has always been fragmented. The steel industry needs to be consolidated,''
Mittal said in a television interview on CNN.
Steelmakers across Asia are putting defensive measures in place to prevent being swallowed by
Arcelor Mittal. Mittal is combining with Luxembourg-based Arcelor SA in a $38.3 billion
transaction to create a company pouring a 10th of the world's steel.
``We are focusing on India and China,'' Mittal said July 7 in Bhubaneswar, India. ``India is a very
important milestone for us to remain the biggest company in the global steel industry.''
LEADERSHIP STYLE
A transactional leader:
Mittal is a transactional leader who guides and motivates his followers in the direction of established
goals by clarifying role and task requirements.
The Leader in Mittal-
A great individual
A corporate leader in business
Started the trend of mergers around the world
A caring family man
A complete human being
“ This is not about creating a giant ….its about creating the sustainability of the steel industry..”
-Lakshmi Niwas Mittal
