Why Don't We Have Multi-billion Dollar Entrepreneurs Like Indian Mittal Steel?

The Indian multi-billion dollar heavyweight entrpreneur Mittal Steel goes around the world and buys steel companies, he swallowed France´s Accelor recently which made him the biggest man in the world to produce steel , his company has offces everywhere, he buys absolutely everything at a fraction of a price especially in so-called Third World countries but also in Russia, Europe and the US and after a while his business turns very well and makes profit. There are many multi-billion dollar industrial heavyweights in India emerging out of nothing slightly over a decade ago. Where are our
industrialist?? Why are Nigerian conglomerates not conquering the world? Why always easy money ("get me a job as a minister and life will be like sweet honey!!!" ), My Goodness, if it is for money´s sake only haven´t Nigerian people realised that the REAL CASH IN TODAY´S WORLD is to be made outside the political realm???

Lakshmi Mittal Steel, multi-billionaire steel magnate
(Reuters)

26 June 2006


LONDON - Lakshmi Mittal, the world’s fifth richest man, sealed his position as the global steel industry’s key player by winning rival steelmaker Arcelor following a five-month battle.

MittalOn Sunday, Arcelor agreed to a revised offer from Mittal Steel worth 25.6 billion euros ($32.2 billion).

Mittal Steel and Arcelor were already the world number one and two. As Arcelor-Mittal, Lakshmi Mittal will run a steel company three times the size of its nearest rival.

Mittal, 56, who made his multibillion dollar fortune by leading consolidation of the steel industry, has said acquiring rival steelmaker Arcelor would mark a step change in the process, creating a behemoth with 10 percent of world volume.

Lakshmi Nivas Mittal, named after the Hindu deity of prosperity and wealth, started work in his father’s mill in Calcutta at a time when many had written the steel industry off.

He went on to make his fortune by transforming ailing steel mills around the globe into money spinners by cutting costs, exploiting economies of scale, and selling higher-value products into a growing market.

Forbes.com says Mittal is now worth $23.5 billion.

Despite his wealth, or perhaps because of it, Mittal shies away from the limelight although his lavish spending often makes headlines. In 2003, he reportedly spent 70 million pounds to buy the most expensive home in Britain.

His path to success began after he branched out from working with his father to set up his own steel plant in Indonesia in 1976, using cheap labour but the best technology.

He expanded into Trinidad in the 1980s, when many had dismissed the steel industry as unprofitable and highly localized, and also began acquiring former state-owned plants in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Mittal ran into controversy in 2001 after Britain’s prime minister, Tony Blair, wrote a letter supporting his takeover of Romania’s biggest steelworks just months after Mittal donated 125,000 pounds to Blair’s ruling Labour Party.

That “cash-for-favours” scandal appeared to make Mittal even more wary of the press. But he has been unable to avoid the inevitable publicity as his fortune has rocketed thanks to soaring demand from China, which has driven up steel prices in recent years.

Mittal cemented his position as a steel magnate in 2003 when he consolidated his assets into stock market-listed Mittal Steel, of which he is chief executive and chairman.

The company was forged when Mittal’s private steel business, Antilles-based LNM Holdings (his initials), merged with publicly traded Ispat International, of which his family owned 77 percent, and clinched a deal to buy Ohio-based ISG.

Mittal and his family own around 87 percent of Mittal Steel, with his two children closely involved in the business. His son Aditya is the firm’s president and finance director while his daughter Vanisha is a director. The family’s stake in Arcelor-Mittal will be diluted to 43.4 percent. 

I aim to be one of them. L. Mittal started off working in his fathers business and then turned it into a around into a multi-million dollar operation. From there, the sky was the limit. He went off buying dying steel mills in India especially at a time when that industry in that country had been written off. Today, he is a multi-billionare worth more than $20bn and now controlls the world steel industry. 

In my own case, my family owns Aquamarine, Amethyst, Emerald  Mines in the Republic of Zambia. I have been in the business ever since I was 16 and I plan to make the company the sole Aquamarine Mining company in the whole of Africa and then venture outside the continent. How will I do that? By buying up folding up Mining operations in the country,of which we have already started. Hopefully, one we will be as big as Mittal Steel.

So my dear friend, they are some ambitious Naija entrepreneurs out there on the rise!!!!

I kid you not my friend, you watch and see!!!!!

 heheehehe

 The average nigerian mind believes political portfolio is the ONLY route to prosperity! And the so called "tycoons" are content with being local champions here,