ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, today announced that current chief financial officer Aditya Mittal will take over as chief executive replacing his father Lakshmi Niwas Mittal.
Aditya Mittal said, "It is an honour to be appointed Chief Executive of ArcelorMittal. Mr Mittal built ArcelorMittal from a greenfield rolling mill in Indonesia to become the world's leading steel company. It is an extraordinary achievement and I am privileged to have witnessed and been part of so much of that journey. I'm excited about what lies ahead."
Lakshmi Mittal, who founded the company in 1976, will become Executive Chairman and will continue to lead the Board of Directors and work together with the CEO and management team.
Lakshmi Mittal, in a statement, said, "We have worked closely together since he joined the company in 1997, indeed in recent years we have effectively been managing the company together." The Mittal family owns more than 35 per cent of the company.
ArcelorMittal that employs around 190,000 people, said that it would run a $1 billion cost-cutting programme over the next two years to cut 20 per cent of its office staff, after posting higher than expected fourth-quarter earnings and boosting returns to shareholders.
ArcelorMittal's fourth-quarter core profit (EBITDA) was $1.73 billion, almost double the year-ago figure and higher than the average forecast in a company poll of $1.47 billion.
The company said it would restart paying dividends to shareholders, with an initial $0.30 per share to be paid in June and would return a further $570 million to shareholders through a new share buyback programme in addition to a $650 million buyback announced earlier this week.
Chairman Lakshmi Mittal said market conditions improved in the fourth quarter, and now the company forecasts 4.5-5.5 per cent growth in steel demand in 2021.