Lakshmi Niwas Mittal - The Splendid King of Steel


Lakshmi Niwas Mittal - The Splendid King of Steel

Popularly renowned as Steel Magnate – Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Chairman & CEO of ArcelorMittal, is the largest global steel producer. Being born into a business family, Lakshmi after graduating from St. Xavier’s College in Commerce stream ventured into his dad’s steel business ‘Nippon Denro Ispat’. The restraint laid on steel by the India government back in 1976 led the 26-year old Lakshmi to travel all the way to Indonesia to setup his own steel factory named PT Ispat Indo.

With the passing years, Lakshmi transmogrified himself into a popular business tycoon, who could take over the organization running under loss and transform it into a lucrative one. For instance, in 1989 he acquired a government owned firm in Caribbean Island, which was running on a depletion of $1 million per day, but under Lakshmi’s administration, the company witnessed fruitful gains. In respect to all his success, the Forbes Business Magazine ranked him as the third richest man in the world in the year 2005.

Grandeur Life… Post Success

Even though hailing from a business background family, it is been noted that Lakshmi has had a very simple lifestyle in his childhood, he slept on the floor as he lived in a cramped house which accommodated 25 of his clan. But the King of Steel is now eminent for his splendid lifestyle. His stunning residence in Kensington, a posh and sophisticated area of central London, has 12 bedrooms, a huge custom swimming pool, Turkish bathroom and a parking to accommodate 20 cars. Its interiors are designed with the marble which was brought from that same quarry as that of Taj Mahal, hence the residence obtained its nickname “Taj Mittal”. It was owned for $128 million back in 2004.

Not to forget the most extravagant wedding of his daughter Vanisha Mittal with Amit Bhatia, a businessman. The wedding was a five-day celebration costing about $60 million in 2004. It had reported more than 1000 guests, and the ceremony cost also includes the flight expense, 5-star hotel accommodation, lavish dinners and of course, numerous parties.

Charity & Humanitarian

Lakshmi is a bountiful philanthropist, his recent donation of $25 million to establish an endowment at Harvard University marks his generosity. He has also contributed to several such education institutions through his Mittal Foundation, the establishment of Universities such as LNM Institute of Information Technology in Jaipur, Usha Lakshmi Mittal Institute of Management in New Delhi. In addition to this, after receiving a huge sum of donation, SNDT Women’s University renamed the Institute of technology for Women as Usha Mittal Institute of Technology. Lakshmi’s £15 million donation to the Great Ormond Street hospital in London also adds grace to his philanthropic work, and the hospital utilized this fund to develop their new facility ‘Mittal children Medical Healthcare’.

His interest in sports, and the disappointment of India winning just one bronze medal in the Summer Olympics 2000, and again only one silver medal at Summer Olympics 2004, urged Lakshmi to set up Mittal Champions trust by spending $9 million. This trust was initiated intending to help ten Indian athletes with the world record potential. He also presented 1.5 crore to Abhinav Bindra, professional shooter for bringing India’s first individual Olympic gold medal in shooting in 2008. Apart from monetary support, Lakshmi also supplied steel for the construction of ArcelorMittal Orbit for the Summer Olympics 2012.

Awards Lakshmi Mittal was honored with

Lakshmi for his excellence in the area of trade and industry was honored with country’s second top civilian awards – ‘Padma Vibhushan’ by the Government of India. It was presented by the then President Pratibha Patil in the year 2008. The same year, he even received Lifetime Achievement Award from Forbes. Prior to that, in 2004, Forbes has also named Lakshmi as European Businessman of the Year. Apart from that, he was even named as the Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 by The Wall Street Journal.

The Indian born–Britain steel tycoon has went on to accomplish several business deal through acquisitions and take over. He is the master in turning the gloomiest business into as bankable one. Commenting on the success Lakshmi states, “Hard work certainly goes a long way. These days a lot of people work hard, so you have to make sure you work even harder and really dedicate yourself to what you are doing and setting out to achieve”.

Read More News:

Jack Ma: Embarking on a New Journey

Srichand Paramanand Hinduja: An Instance of Unity