This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Being number four on the Forbes list of wealthiest persons in the world can't be too bad. That's where British-Indian industrialist Lakshmi Mittal found himself earlier this year, up one place from the year before. His estimated $45 billion placed him just behind Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Carlos Slim. But that was before he lost $30.5 billion this year.

Now a resident of London, Mittal was the founder of steelmaker Mittal. Upon its merger with French steelmaker to become ArcelorMittal (NYSE: MT), the world's largest steel producer, he became the new conglomerate's chairman and CEO. ArcelorMittal's stock price was up around $104 per share this past June. But after increased production cuts due to the sudden fall in demand for steel in the past six months, the price has since dropped to around $25 a share now. Mittal, who owns 43 percent of the company, has seen a commensurate drop in value.

Mittal had been pursuing the acquisition of a controlling stake in Dillinger Hütte, a German steelmaker, which would have helped shore up ArcelorMittal during these difficult global economic conditions. He had wanted to engineer a full takeover of Dillinger as a way to boost the overall technological capabilities of ArcelorMittal, but it didn't quite work out. As a sort of consolation prize, the company will receive about $1 billion for a portion of its stake in the German company.

Continue reading Money losers of 2008: Falling demand for steel melt's Lakshmi Mittal's fortune

Money losers of 2008: Falling demand for steel melt's Lakshmi Mittal's fortune originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 15:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.