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The next generation is taking over the reins at steel major ArcelorMittal. Aditya Mittal, currently President, CFO and CEO ArcelorMittal Europe, will become Chief Executive Officer of the company. Lakshmi N Mittal, who founded the company in 1976 and is currently Chairman and CEO, will become Executive Chairman.
“Despite the obvious challenges of 2020, ArcelorMittal starts 2021 in a position of comparative strength. Having achieved some key strategic targets, this seems like the right moment to transition to Executive Chairman and the Board unanimously agree that Aditya Mittal is the natural and right choice to be the company’s Chief Executive. We have worked closely together since he joined the company in 1997, indeed in recent years we have effectively been managing the company together,” said the senior Mittal.
He has an unrivalled knowledge of the business and a keen sense of how the company must continue to transform to remain the world’s leading steel company. As Chief Executive, he will be taking on the effective day-to-day running of the company, but we will continue to work very closely together and I remain as fascinated, engaged and committed to the company’s long-term success as ever,” he added.
Aditya Mittal said the biggest challenge, but also the biggest opportunity, will be to demonstrate that steel can decarbonise and indeed is the perfect material for a circular economy. “This will undoubtedly be a critical driver of our strategy in the coming years.”
‘Right candidate’
Bruno Lafont, Lead Independent Non-Executive Director, said: “This is a well-planned transition and I would expect it be very smooth. Aditya Mittal is without a doubt the right candidate to be the next Chief Executive of ArcelorMittal. His knowledge and experience of the company is second to none and this step reflects the role he has increasingly performed in recent years. He has impressed the Board with his forensic knowledge of the business, his leadership skills in all market conditions and his knowledge of the sustainability trends that are shaping and changing the way the global economy operates.”
Lakshmi Mittal has been at helm of the company for over 45 years since he created the steel company from scratch.
Lakshmi Mittal founded what became ArcelorMittal in 1976 when he built a greenfield rolling mill in Indonesia. An early believer in the benefits that consolidation could bring to the steel industry, he took his first international step in 1989 with the lease and subsequent acquisition of a steel company in Trinidad & Tobago. This was followed by expansion into Mexico, the US, Germany, Kazakhstan and multiple Eastern European countries. In 2004, Mittal combined his two steel businesses, Ispat International and LNM Holdings, to form Mittal Steel, while at the same time agreeing to merge with International Steel Group of the US. This combination meant Mittal Steel became the world’s largest steel company, a position that was further reinforced in 2006 when Mittal Steel and Arcelor agreed to merge to create ArcelorMittal.
Operational responsibilities
Aditya Mittal joined Ispat International in 1997 from Credit Suisse where he worked in the investment banking division. His first task was to oversee the IPO of Ispat International on the New York Stock Exchange. He subsequently became Head of M&A, leading the company’s expansion into Eastern Europe. As CFO of LNM Holdings he led the combination of Ispat International with LNM to form Mittal Steel, of which he became CFO. He identified the opportunity of combining Arcelor and Mittal Steel and led the merger offer which culminated in the creation of ArcelorMittal.
As well as being CFO of ArcelorMittal he took up operational responsibilities, first as CEO ArcelorMittal Americas and then as CEO of ArcelorMittal Europe. He was named President in 2018. Genuino Christino joined Cia. Belgo Mineira in Brazil (currently ArcelorMittal Brazil) in 2003 from KPMG where he worked as an external auditor and consultant for over 10 years in Brazil and in the UK. He was transferred to the head office in Luxembourg in 2009 and has progressively taken over additional responsibilities within finance becoming Head of Finance in 2016.