Cold Steel is a fascinating account of how Mittal, who opted out of a career in the classroom to catch up on his morning sleep, thought nothing of the indulgence in the ensuing years as he built the world's largest steel empire across time zones and sleeping patterns.
The focal point of the book is Mittal's hostile acquisition of Arcelor, which was the second biggest steel maker to Mittal's Mittal Steel and had the most advanced technologies. But Arcelor was more than that. It was a symbol of European unity, forged by six countries pooling their industrial resources as an effort to re-build after decades of war. Luxembourg-based Arcelor practised consensual management and industrial relations.
Mittal, the Marwari who began life among thorn trees in the Churu district of Rajasthan, was driven by a zeal to consolidate the global steel industry. That, he thought, could eliminate the cyclical ups and downs that dogged the industry.
He was ranged against Guy Dolle, the chief executive of Arcelor, a brilliant but irascible engineer who on occasions allowed valour to overshadow discretion. On one such occasion, he referred to Mittal as a company of Indians offering monnaie de singe (literally monkey's money). The phrase also means funny money (tainted money) and monopoly money (ridiculously large, but worthless). Mittal's public relations team used the observations to drum up a furore. On another occasion, Dolle described Mittal as a smooth talker who didn't always tell the truth.
The supporting cast of French President Jacques Chirac and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and commerce minister Kamal Nath added their own twists to the plot. At one point in time, India's double taxation agreement with Luxembourg seemed to hinge on the fate of Mittal's bid. Expectedly, Mittal's six-month battle for Arcelor was fraught with passion, intrigue and drama with charges of racism flying thick and fast.
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The authors have done well to capture the story and recount it like a thriller "" with flashbacks. The narrative jumps back and forth in an arresting way and is rich in atmospherics. That would only be expected since one of authors, Tim Bouquet, a features journalist, teaches creative writing. The other, Byron Ousey, works for a financial public relations company that advised the Luxembourg government, which was a shareholder in Arcelor. The duo received extensive briefings from the Mittal camp and Dolle, though Severstal and ThyssenKrupp, two other key players, kept away.
If you don't count Tom Wolfe's fiction, business writing, especially non-fiction, is known to be drab. This book is therefore a welcome change and can in fact be described as a page turner. It is also a business journalist's envy, such is the depth and detail of the story that the authors have reconstructed.
They have also taken some liberty "" on second thoughts, make that quite a bit of liberty. Incidents and conversations have been recounted in such detail that nobody could have possibly remembered. Some of it is logical deduction: when Luxembourg minister Jeannot Krecke travels in New Delhi, the flag on his car is described as fluttering gently. Some other parts reconstruct private conversations and emotions "" the story of Mittal first meeting with his prospective bride is told in detail "" with incredible authority.
The book shares its title with a 1987 Hollywood potboiler starring Sharon Stone that begins with a murder on Christmas eve. Despite Ms Stone's considerable charm, the book will score over the movie.
COLD STEEL: LAKSHMI MITTAL AND THE MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR BATTLE FOR A GLOBAL EMPIRE
Tim Bouquet & Byron Ousey
Little, Brown
Price: Rs 650; Pages: 340