Arecelor Mittal may have an outsider as chairman

LONDON: Arcelor Mittal, the world's leading steel maker, may start looking for an outside non-executive chairman amid concerns that its chief executive and main shareholder Lakshmi Mittal wields too much power, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

In an interview with the newspaper, Mittal said he was "not particularly interested" in taking over as chairman in 2007.

The FT said that Mittal had indicated in June, when Mittal Steel completed its 26.9 billion-euro (35.4-billion-dollar) purchase of Arcelor, that he would become chairman when Joseph Kinsch retired from the post next year.

But Mittal was quoted by the FT as saying: "I don't have the aim of being the chairman." However, he acknowledged that he could do both jobs.