How one man's dream succeeded in rebuilding a global industry
WHEN Lakshmi Mittal launched his 2006 bid for Arcelor, Europe's biggest steel company, spanning Luxembourg, France, Belgium and Spain, he was a mystery to continentals. The Indian expatriate was already known as the richest man in Britain, but French ministers, alarmed at this assault on a largely French bastion, were unsure whether the attack was coming from India or elsewhere.
Yet a little over a year after swallowing Arcelor to form the world's leading steel company, Mr Mittal was nominated to the board of EADS, Europe's pre-eminent aerospace group, prompting, as he recalls, anxiety from its German ...