Lakshmi Mittal tumbles to 9th spot in South Africa's rich businessmen list

Johannesburg: NRI steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, who was at the top in South Africa's richest businessmen list for six consecutive years, has dropped down to 9th position this year due to plummeting share price of ArcelorMittal SA.

Mittal has continued to drop down the rankings since last last year when he was ranked third after losing the top spot which he held for six consecutive years previously. This year Mittal took the 9th position.

Although not a resident in South Africa, Mittal's name has been included on the list of the South Africa's richest businessmen because of his share holding in ArcelorMittal SA - the steel giant that bore out of Mittal's takeover of former state-owned monopoly Iscor about a decade ago.

Mittal's wealth dropped substantially with the ArcelorMittal SA share price having almost halved in the past year.

Patrice Motsepe, mining magnate and formerly joint chairman of the India-South Africa CEO's Forum with Ratan Tata, was knocked off his top position in the annual Rich List, compiled by the weekly Sunday Times, by Christo Wiese, head of major supermarket retailer. Property tycoon Ragavan Moonsamy was the only South African businessman of Indian origin who featured in the top 100 on the Rich List this year.

The Rich List is based on an analysis of holdings of all companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange.