<PAGE>   1
                                                                   EXHIBIT 24.01



                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
                                        
                   WITH RESPECT TO ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K
                                        
                   UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934



     KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS, that the undersigned officers and
directors, individually and collectively, hereby constitute and appoint Allen
Born, Helen M. Feeney, and Michael T. Vollkommer, and each of them, their true
and lawful attorneys and agents to execute and deliver on behalf of any one or
more of them, in any one or more of their various capacities as officer or
director of the registrant, the Alumax Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 1997, and any and all required amendments and
supplements thereto, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant
to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the
undersigned and each of them hereby ratifying and confirming all that said
attorneys and agents, and each of them, shall do or cause to be done by virtue
hereof.

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the undersigned has signed his or her name
hereto on the date set opposite his or her name.



February 5, 1998    /s/ Allen Born
                    ----------------------------------------------------
                    Allen Born, as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer
                    and Director (Principal Executive Officer)


February 5, 1998    /s/ Michael T. Vollkommer
                    ----------------------------------------------------
                    Michael T. Vollkommer, as Vice President and 
                    Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)


February 5, 1998    /s/ Kevin J. Krakora
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    Kevin J. Krakora, as Vice President and Controller
                    (Principal Accounting Officer)

<PAGE>   2
February 5, 1998    /s/ J. Dennis Bonney
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    J. Dennis Bonney, as Director



February 5, 1998    /s/ Harold Brown
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    Harold Brown, as Director



February 5, 1998    /s/ L. Don Brown
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    L. Don Brown, as Director



February 5, 1998    /s/ Pierre Des Marais II
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    Pierre Des Marais II, as Director



February 5, 1998    /s/ James C. Huntington Jr. 
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    James C. Huntington Jr., as Director



February 5, 1998    /s/ W. Loeber Landau
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    W. Loeber Landau, as Director



February 5, 1998    /s/ Paul W. MacAvoy
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    J. Paul W. MacAvoy, as Director



February 5, 1998    /s/ Anne Wexler
                    ---------------------------------------------
                    Anne Wexler, as Director