Laxmi Narayan Mittal, the Indian-born steel tycoon who recently shook the world with his acquisition of the world's largest steel company, Arcelor, grew from humble beginnings.

Born at Sadulpur, Rajasthan, in 1950, he spent his initial years living with his extended family on bare concrete floors and rope beds in a house built by his grandfather.

His grandfather worked for the Tarachand Ghanshyam Das firm, a leading Marwari industrial firms of pre-independence India. The family later moved to Kolkata (then Calcutta).

It was here, in this eastern India city that his father, Mohan Mittal, became a partner in a steel company and made a fortune.

Lakshmi graduated from St. Xavier’s College in Calcutta where he received a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

Soon after his graduation, he joined his father's steel business.

Later, he decided to branch out on his own, taking over the international operations of his family business.

He looked after the company's operations in Indonesia and Trinidad and Tobago, and the rest of the family kept the domestic Indian business.
He founded the company Mittal Steel in 1976 which is today the top global steel producer with operations in 14 countries.

Mittal pioneered the development of integrated mini-mills and the use of direct reduced iron (DRI) as a scrap substitute for steelmaking and led the consolidation process of the global steel industry.

He then went on an acquisition spree on both sides of the Atlantic that saw him become one of the richest men on earth.

In recent times, he made about 20 acquisitions, buying up a network of steel producers in former Communist countries including Kazakhstan, Romania and Ukraine, and pushing into the US in 2004 with the $4.5 billion purchase of International Steel Group.

His recent takeover of Luxemburg-based Arcelor has seen the creation of the world's largest steel entity.

Mittal was awarded Fortune magazine’s ‘European Businessman of the Year 2004’ and also the ‘Steelmaker of the Year’ award in 1996 by New Steel, and the ‘Willy Korf Steel Vision Award’ in 1998.

In March 2005, Forbes named him the thrid richest man in the world and the richest non-American, with a wealth of $25 billion.

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 lives in a mansion at Kensington, London, which he had bought two years ago from from Formula One racing's Bernie Ecclestone.

He is married to Usha and has a son, Aditya, who has also entered the family business and a daughter, Vanisha, who is on the board of Mittal Steel.