Cyrus Mistry: Soft-spoken man, thorough industrialist | A profile

In a tragic incident, Cyrus Mistry lost his life on Sunday in a road accident while traveling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai. Four others, who were in the same Mercedes car, died on the spot.

According to the Palghar Superintendent of Police (SP), Mistry’s friend Anahita Pandole was driving the vehicle when the accident happened. She was critically injured and is currently at the hospital. Mistry is survived by wife Rohiqa Mistry and two sons Firoz and Zahan.

Prima facie, the luxury car was speeding. It covered 20 km of distance in just 9 minutes after crossing the Charoti check post in the Palghar district, 120 km away from Mumbai. The car hit a road divider on the bridge on the Surya river, killing Mistry (54) and Jahangir Pandole on the spot.

An industry leader, who always kept a low profile but scaled heights at a young age, Cyrus Mistry was a soft spoken yet a candid person.

Following are some of the facts about Mistry who died in a car accident on Sunday.

– Mistry was the sixth and the youngest at the age of 44 years to become the Chairman of Tata Sons when he took over in 2012 from Ratan Tata.

– He was the second person from outside the Tata family to head the Tata group as Tata Sons Chairman. * Mistry succeeded his father Pallonji, who was the single largest shareholder of Tata Sons with 18.5 per cent stake, on the board of Tata Sons. In 2006, Cyrus, 38 then, was appointed on board of Tata Sons after his father Pallonji Mistry retired. He was also a director on Tata Power and Tata Elxsi board.

– During his tenure as Chairman of Tata Sons, he focussed on profitability and sustainability. He took many decisions to get rid of non-performing assets, including the sale of the UK assets of Tata Steel, and shutting down the soda ash and calcium chloride plant of Tata Chemicals at Winnington in the UK.

– Before being picked to become the Chairman of Tata Sons, Mistry was the managing director of Shapoorji Pallonji Group. In 1991 he entered the family business, becoming director of its flagship construction company, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd. His brother, Shapoor, directed the group’s real-estate business, and their father continued as chairman of the board of directors.

– He was appointed the managing director of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group in 1994. During Cyrus Mistry’s two decades at the helm of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, the company continued its expansion beyond traditional construction to large engineering projects, including designing and building complex projects in marine, oil and gas, rail and power sector.

– During his reign, Shapoorji Pallonji’s construction business grew from a turnover of USD 20 million to almost USD 1.5 billion. The company also continued to grow overseas, undertaking more projects in the Middle East and Africa.

– Under his leadership, the SP group also registered many firsts in India – construction of the tallest residential towers, the longest rail bridge, the largest dry dock and the largest affordable housing project.

– Born in then Bombay on July 4, 1968, he was an Irish citizen, through his mother who was an Irish.

– Soft spoken and candid, he is known to enjoy playing golf and was a prolific reader.

– His sister Aloo is married to Noel Tata, Ratan Tata’s half-brother.

– He graduated in civil engineering from the Imperial College, London and was also an MSc in management from the London School of Business.

(With PTI inputs)

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