Mittal's £50 mn for Mississippi RASHMEE ROSHAN LAL
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2005 11:22:31 AM ]
London: The number crunchers may argue about who's the richer man Lakshmi Mittal or Roman Abramovich. But the Indian steel tycoon has just blown his Russian rival out of the water by proving he is the most 'giving' man by promising to re-build an entire hurricane-hit little American town with more than £50 million of his own money.
Long Beach, Mississippi, which many believe will soon come to be called 'Mittalville' by its grateful residents, will be subjected to the steel magnate's famous 'turnaround' plan for the next five years.
For two decades, Mittal, so-called 'turnaround specialist', has steadily built up his 14-country steel empire to girdle the globe, by applying a scientifically exact strategy of takeover tough love-turnaround to rusting eastern European mills and bust former Soviet Union operations.
Now, the steel tycoon is to begin a high-profile phase of projects that will reveal his 'caring corporate' side. These are expected to include South Asia's earthquake-hit regions. In the process of Long Beach's resurgence, Mittal, who owns the world's largest steel-maker and has sundry other statistical records, including buyer of the world's most expensive house, will become one of Britain's most philanthropic citizens.
Many believe his remarkable charitable impulse will earn Mittal the grateful thanks and much kudos from much of the Western world, a priceless prize far beyond his current status as the third richest individual on Forbes' A-listers.
The town Mittal is to adopt has lost everything within 1,000 feet of its seafront and is now bankrupt, with no prospect of help from the American federal government for several years.
This prompted a clearly-moved Mittal, who described the effects of Katrina as "heartbreaking", to try and assuage the human suffering by getting involved with all the money, men, moral and problem-solving expertise at his command. The tycoon added that his response to the wave of global natural disasters, such as Katrina, had led him to create "a new model for corporate partnership".
In a sign he now wants to set off a domino effect of "corporate compassion", he insisted he said he wanted to "encourage other American companies to adopt Long Beach and other affected communities along the Gulf Coast."
Long Beach's mayor, Billy Skellie, is quoted by Mittal's company to say, "Thanks to Mittal Steel and others, the future is looking much brighter. We look forward to seeing them every day as we rebuild our homes, businesses and our community. We are extremely grateful and humbled by their generosity."
Mittal admitted at the weekend that "it will take years to rebuild the affected communities (which) are left with challenges that require innovative, long-term solutions and substantial commitments of both time and resources".
Accordingly Mittal, whose American company is North America's largest steel-maker, has said he will immediately "install a team of engineers and logistics specialists, along with their spouses, in the centre of Long Beach."
Mittal's team "will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the area, the physical impact of Hurricane Katrina and the most urgent needs of the community.
To address those needs, the company will immediately commit $1 million." Mittal promised that the "second phase" would see his company "participate in the actual rebuilding of Long Beach".