Lakshmi Mitta - First

Lakshmi Mittal

Rank : 1 Worth : £19,250m

Steel magnate Mittal, 56, heads the richlist for the third year running. Last year saw him make an audacious bid for Arcelor, the world’s second biggest steel maker after Mittal Steel. By June, after five months of wrangling, he finally secured the company for £17.8 billion. Arcelor Mittal, as the new venture is called, produces 115m tons of steel a year, about 10% of the market.

Latshmi Mittal knows steel

Mittal, who has turned round ailing former state-owned mills around the world, knows all there is to know about steel. He learnt about business in Calcutta. His father moved to the city and built up a steel business, while Lakshmi excelled at university, topping his class in business and accountancy. After working in the family firm, Mittal moved to Indonesia. With backing from his father, he founded a steel plant and by the mid-1980s was a serious player in the world market. In 1995 he separated his own steel interests from the family’s Indian businesses, and went his own way.

Mittal settled in London although he retains his Indian passport. His US-educated son, Aditya, also based in London, plays an increasingly important role in the business as president and chief financial officer of Mittal Steel and led the recent bid for Arcelor. The family’s stake in Mittal Steel prior to the merger was worth more than £17 billion as its shares had risen sharply. The family will emerge with about 43.4% of the new entity.

From 1998 to 2005, the Mittals had £1.57 billion in dividends from its steel operations . About £434m has been reinvested elsewhere, leaving £1.13 billion in family hands. The Mittals will receive at least £413m in dividends from the new group in 2007. A separate investment portfolio is valued at £570m. Mittal set a world record for a private home when he paid £70m to Bernie Ecclestone (qv), the Formula One supremo, for a house in London’s exclusive Kensington Palace Gardens. In all, the Suday Times reckons the family is worth £19,250m.