Lakshmi Mittal

ArcelorMittal

This year, the Indian-born entrepreneur Lakshmi Mittal, 57, completed his $38 billion takeover of Luxembourg-based Arcelor to form ArcelorMittal (MT), the world's largest steel company. The deal started out as a hostile one, but Mittal has won over key Arcelor people, retaining a substantial chunk of the top management. ArcelorMittal's results have been solid. For the first nine months of the year, the company reported sales of $77.2 billion and operating income of $11.5 billion, a 34% pro forma gain over the previous year. This fall, Mittal took a big step into China, a difficult yet crucial market, through a deal that will eventually give him control of China Oriental Group, a Hong Kong-listed company that produces steel in China's Hebei province.