Cyrus Mistry
became chairman of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., the parent company for India’s largest conglomerate, in 2012 amid expectations that he would improve performance of its vast collection of holdings, including the makers of Jaguar and Land Rover cars, steel and Tetley tea, and operators of luxury hotels such as the Pierre in New York and the Taj Palace in New Delhi.
Four years later, Tata’s board ousted him for reasons that are still disputed.
Mr. Mistry, an Irish citizen who was born in India, founded a venture-capital firm with his older brother,
Shapoor Mistry,
after leaving Tata.
He died Sunday of injuries in a car accident in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. He was 54.
During his four years as chairman of Tata, Mr. Mistry brought in a small group of outside advisers to help streamline Tata. Meanwhile, the company’s steel business slumped amid a global glut that drove prices down. Supporters of Mr. Mistry said he stirred up antagonism by halting some of the pet projects of his predecessor,
Ratan Tata.
Mr. Mistry tried to sell hotels in the U.S. and steel operations in the U.K. He also tried to wind down production by Tata Motors of the Nano minicar, priced at about $2,000.
A former Tata executive,
Mukund Rajan,
wrote later that the speed of change sought by Mr. Mistry raised questions in some quarters but that he seemed to have “the right ideas about turning around struggling Tata companies.”
Mr. Mistry was 44 years old when he won the top job at Tata, which was established in 1868 and controls companies with revenues totaling more than $100 billion.
Like Ratan Tata, Mr. Mistry was from the close-knit Parsi community, descendants of refugees from Persia who sought asylum in India centuries ago. He also was personally linked to the Tata family: His sister was married to Ratan Tata’s half-brother
Noel Tata.
Mr. Mistry had been on the board of Tata Sons since 2006. His family’s construction company, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co., had long been the single-largest shareholder of Tata Sons, with a stake of about 18%.
After his removal as chairman, the formerly quiet Mr. Mistry sent a withering letter to the company’s directors accusing them of being tools of the company’s founding family at the expense of other shareholders and complained of a “total lack of corporate governance.”
Tata Sons responded with a lengthy news release denying Mr. Mistry’s allegations. It reprimanded Mr. Mistry for “his absolute disregard of longstanding Tata traditions, values and ethos.” Mr. Mistry challenged his ouster in court. Early last year, India’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tata Sons.
Cyrus Pallonji Mistry was born July 4, 1968, in Bombay, now known as Mumbai. He was a civil-engineering graduate from Imperial College London and had a master’s degree in management from the London Business School. Around the age of 23, he joined Shapoorji Pallonji. He was appointed managing director of the family company in 1994.
He is survived by his wife, two sons, his mother, two sisters and a brother. His father, Pallonji Mistry, died earlier this year.
Write to Krishna Pokharel at krishna.pokharel@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Cyrus Mistry
became chairman of Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd., the parent company for India’s largest conglomerate, in 2012 amid expectations that he would improve performance of its vast collection of holdings, including the makers of Jaguar and Land Rover cars, steel and Tetley tea, and operators of luxury hotels such as the Pierre in New York and the Taj Palace in New Delhi.
Four years later, Tata’s board ousted him for reasons that are still disputed.
Mr. Mistry, an Irish citizen who was born in India, founded a venture-capital firm with his older brother,
Shapoor Mistry,
after leaving Tata.
He died Sunday of injuries in a car accident in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. He was 54.
During his four years as chairman of Tata, Mr. Mistry brought in a small group of outside advisers to help streamline Tata. Meanwhile, the company’s steel business slumped amid a global glut that drove prices down. Supporters of Mr. Mistry said he stirred up antagonism by halting some of the pet projects of his predecessor,
Ratan Tata.
Mr. Mistry tried to sell hotels in the U.S. and steel operations in the U.K. He also tried to wind down production by Tata Motors of the Nano minicar, priced at about $2,000.
A former Tata executive,
Mukund Rajan,
wrote later that the speed of change sought by Mr. Mistry raised questions in some quarters but that he seemed to have “the right ideas about turning around struggling Tata companies.”
Mr. Mistry was 44 years old when he won the top job at Tata, which was established in 1868 and controls companies with revenues totaling more than $100 billion.
Like Ratan Tata, Mr. Mistry was from the close-knit Parsi community, descendants of refugees from Persia who sought asylum in India centuries ago. He also was personally linked to the Tata family: His sister was married to Ratan Tata’s half-brother
Noel Tata.
Mr. Mistry had been on the board of Tata Sons since 2006. His family’s construction company, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co., had long been the single-largest shareholder of Tata Sons, with a stake of about 18%.
After his removal as chairman, the formerly quiet Mr. Mistry sent a withering letter to the company’s directors accusing them of being tools of the company’s founding family at the expense of other shareholders and complained of a “total lack of corporate governance.”
Tata Sons responded with a lengthy news release denying Mr. Mistry’s allegations. It reprimanded Mr. Mistry for “his absolute disregard of longstanding Tata traditions, values and ethos.” Mr. Mistry challenged his ouster in court. Early last year, India’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of Tata Sons.
Cyrus Pallonji Mistry was born July 4, 1968, in Bombay, now known as Mumbai. He was a civil-engineering graduate from Imperial College London and had a master’s degree in management from the London Business School. Around the age of 23, he joined Shapoorji Pallonji. He was appointed managing director of the family company in 1994.
He is survived by his wife, two sons, his mother, two sisters and a brother. His father, Pallonji Mistry, died earlier this year.
Write to Krishna Pokharel at krishna.pokharel@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8