Cleveland Cliffs Inc (CLF)

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‘I Want Everything.’ The Pugnacious, Arm-Twisting CEO

Lourenco Goncalves used an iron ore company to become one of the US’s largest steelmakers; now he’s trying to buy U.S. Steel.



Lourenco Goncalves. DAVID JUNKIN, RAWPIXEL

By Bob Tita

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Dec. 1, 2023 10:00 am ET

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Veteran Brazilian steel executive Lourenco Goncalves has a booming voice. He’s used it to demand customers buy more steel and to dress down analysts who’ve dared to critique his company’s performance. In the past three years, he’s shouted his way to the top of the U.S. steel industry. 

Goncalves, 65, is on the precipice of the boldest move of his career: acquiring 122-year-old United States Steel. If he prevails, the deal would reshape the U.S. steel industry, making 

Cleveland-Cliffs CLF 6.41%increase; green up pointing triangle

—an iron ore mining company just a few years ago—the largest domestic steelmaker by volume and the 10th largest in the world. 

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