Cyrus Mistry: A young tycoon who once headed Tata Group
The former Chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry was killed in a road accident on Sunday after his Mercedes car rammed into a divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district, which borders Mumbai. His death shocked the commercial and industrialist circles given his status and achievements. Mistry joined the Tata group as a director in 2006 and quickly progressed through the ranks. Here's more on the life and career of Mistry.
Scion of leading business family rose to the fame
Mistry, whose full name was Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, was born in an affluent business family on July 4, 1968, in Mumbai. His father, the late Pallonji Mistry, was the owner of the Shapoorji Pallonji company, a diverse conglomerate that his great-grandfather built in the eighteenth century, as per Britannica. The company had the most shares in the Tata group.
Mistry graduated from London with civil engineering and management degrees
Mistry attended Mumbai's famous Cathedral and John Connon Schools before continuing his education in England, where he earned a civil engineering degree from Imperial College. He also earned a master's degree in management from the London Business School. After his return from England, he joined the family business in 1991, becoming director of its main construction firm, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd.
During his reign, his family's wealth improved
During Mistry's tenure with the family company, it branched out from conventional construction into big engineering projects like the building of power plants, as per Britannica. The company expanded abroad and now has new projects in Africa and the Middle East. After his father left the Tata Group's board of directors in 2006, Mistry took over and eventually rose to the post of chairman.
He was praised for being the conglomerate's second non-Tata chief
Mistry was lauded as the first non-Indian and only the second non-Tata to run the Tata Group in most of the Indian news media, but in reality, he was deeply ingrained in Mumbai society and was tied to the Tatas by marriage.
His contribution to the Tata group
Mistry's appointment came amid a time of rapid growth for the Tata Group, which included more than 100 companies, including the Corus Group, a significant European steel producer, and the British automaker Jaguar Land Rover. He was responsible for restructuring the organization's structure, combining similar companies, and giving executive positions to capable people who might not be related to the Tata or Mistry dynasties.
Surprising ouster from Tata
Mistry served as chairman Tata Sons from July 2015 to October 2016, when he was unexpectedly fired for allegedly disagreeing with the Tata family about business strategy. He appealed his dismissal before the National Company Law Tribunal, but it denied his request. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, however, reversed the judgment in 2019. His dismissal was affirmed by Supreme Court two years later.
