Cyrus Mistry

Cyrus Mistrywas an Indian businessman, scion of a wealthy business family in Mumbai, who served as chairman (2012–16) of the gigantic Tata Group conglomerate.

Cyrus Mistry was the younger son of Pallonji Mistry, head of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a diversified conglomerate that had begun with a construction company started by Pallonji Mistry’s grandfather in the 19th century. The Mistrys were members of Mumbai’s Parsi community, followers of the Zoroastrian religion who had grown prosperous as merchants and industrialists since the earliest colonial times. Cyrus attended the prestigious Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai before completing his higher education in England, where he acquired a civil engineering degree from Imperial College, London, and a master’s degree in management from the London Business School. 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. Pallonji Mistry also sat on the board of the Tata Group, another Mumbai-based conglomerate controlled by another prominent Parsi family, the Tatas.

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 the building of power plants and factories. The company also continued to grow overseas, undertaking more projects in the Middle East and Africa. In 2006 Pallonji Mistry retired from the board of the Tata Group, and the 38-year-old Cyrus Mistry took his place. Pallonji Mistry was the single largest shareholder of the conglomerate, and his son was named director of several Tata companies in addition to his duties with the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. In November 2011 Cyrus Mistry was made deputy chairman of the Tata Group, with the explicit goal of taking over as chairman one year later, upon the retirement of Ratan Tata, who had headed the group since 1991.

Cyrus Mistry was hailed in much of the Indian news media as the first non-Indian and only the second non-Tata to lead the Tata Group, but in fact he was thoroughly immersed in Mumbai society and was closely connected by marriage to the Tatas. He held an Irish passport on account of his mother, an Irish citizen of Indian extraction whose brother was an Indian shipping magnate and whose sister was married to a cousin of Pallonji Mistry. One of Cyrus Mistry’s sisters married Noel Tata, Ratan Tata’s half brother and a prominent executive in the Tata Group. In 1992 Cyrus Mistry married a daughter of Iqbal Chagla, one of India’s most prominent lawyers, and their sons began their education as their father had, in Mumbai.

Cyrus Mistry resigned from Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. upon being made deputy chairman of the Tata Group. Soon after, his father passed control of the entire Shapoorji Pallonji Group to Shapoor Mistry. Cyrus Mistry’s appointment came after a period of great expansion for the Tata Group, which comprised more than 100 companies, including Britain’s Jaguar Land Rover car manufacturer and the Corus Group, a major European steel producer. His responsibilities included streamlining the group’s structure, consolidating related businesses, and opening up management to skilled individuals who might not be connected to the Tata or Mistry families. In 2012 he officially succeeded Ratan Tata as chairman of the Tata Group. Mistry’s tenure as chairman lasted until October 2016, when he was abruptly dismissed. Media reports indicated that disagreements with members of the Tata family over business strategy were the main reason for his ouster. Mistry challenged his removal, accusing the board of mismanagement and of oppressing minority shareholders. In 2018 India’s National Company Law Tribunal rejected his petition, but that decision was overturned by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in 2019. Two years later India’s Supreme Court upheld Mistry’s dismissal.