Lakshmi N. Mittal is the President and CEO of ArcelorMittal. Mr Mittal founded Mittal Steel Company (formerly the LNM Group) in 1976 and guided its strategic development, culminating in the merger with Arcelor, agreed in 2006, to found the world's largest steel maker. He is widely recognised for the leading role he has played in restructuring the steel industry towards a more consolidated and globalised model.
Mr. Mittal began his career working in the family's steelmaking business in India, and has over 30 years' experience working in steel and related industries. In addition to forcing the pace of industry consolidation, he has also championed the development of integrated mini-mills and the use of Direct Reduced Iron or "DRI" as a scrap substitute for steelmaking.
Following the transaction combining Ispat International and LNM Holdings to form Mittal Steel in December 2004, together with the simultaneous announcement of the acquisition of International Steel Group in the US to form the world's then leading steel producer, Mr. Mittal was awarded Fortune magazine's "European Businessman of the Year 2004".
Mr. Mittal was awarded "Steelmaker of the Year" in 1996 by New Steel in the USA and the "Willy Korf Steel Vision Award" in June 1998 from American Metal Market and PaineWeber's World Steel Dynamics, for outstanding vision, entrepreneurship, leadership and success in global steel development. Following the creation of ArcelorMittal, Mr. Mittal was awarded "Business Person of 2006" by the Sunday Times', "International Newsmaker of the Year 2006" by Time Magazine and "Person of the Year 2006" by the Financial Times for his outstanding business achievements. In January 2007, Mr. Mittal was presented with a Fellowship from King's College London, the college's highest award. He has also been awarded the 2007 Dwight D. Eisenhower Global Leadership Award, AIST Steelmaker of the year and, most recently, the Grand Cross of Civil Merit from Spain.
Mr. Mittal is an active philanthropist and a member of various trusts. ArcelorMittal is a significant contributor to local community and welfare activities for employees in countries where the Group operates. Mr. 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. He is a Director of ICICI Bank Limited and sits on the Advisory Board of the Kellogg School of Management in the U.S and on the International Advisory Board of Citigroup.
He was born in Sadulpur in Rajasthan, India on June 15, 1950, and graduated from St. Xavier's College in Calcutta where he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He is married to Usha Mittal, and has a son, Aditya Mittal and a daughter, Vanisha Mittal Bhatia.
