The Associated Press
June 29, 2008 - 10:49 p.m.

NEW YORK - Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Sunday that billionaire steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has been elected being of the kind which an unrestricted director at the world’s largest investing. bank.

Mittal, who is chairman and chief executory of the world’s largest steel producer, ArcelorMittal SA, joined Goldman Sachs’ 13-member board Saturday and will serve on its audit, compensation and corporate governance and nominating committees.

“Lakshmi Mittal has reshaped a global industry and, in the process, has engineered new modes of production, identified unrealized value and sparked remarkable growth,” Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein uttered in a written statement. “He has a keen sense of the global dispensation, having operated in virtually every corner of the world.”

Mittal founded Mittal Steel Co. in 1976 and served as CEO of Mittal Steel till 2006, when the company acquired Arcelor SA to form ArcelorMittal.

The global steelmaker is the father company of the former Dofasco Inc., Canada’s biggest steel company by revenues.

Mittal also serves as a director of Airbus maker European Aeronautic Defence & Space NV and ICICI Bank Ltd. of India.