Cyrus Mistry: SP Group to Tata Group, and beyond - A look at his journey

Known to like golf, the late business magnate Cyrus Mistry was considered a studious backroom executive with a sharp mind

Cyrus Mistry, a high-profile Indian-born Irish businessman and the former chairman of the Tata group, passed away in a road accident on September 4, 2022, in Maharashtra's Palghar district. Leaders cutting across the political and business spectrum condoled the demise of Mistry. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the businessman's untimely death was a big loss to the world of commerce and industry. Mistry is survived by two sons and his wife Rohiqa Chagla.

The first non-Indian citizen to lead the Tata group, Cyrus Mistry was the sixth and youngest chairman of the Indian business conglomerate. He took over after Ratan Tata retired in December 2012.

Let's look at some facets of the life of the industrialist who had decades of varied experience in managing businesses ranging from construction to entertainment, power and finance.

Who was Cyrus Mistry?

Life and education

Cyrus Mistry was born in 1968 in a Parsi family to the Shapoorji Pallonji group's billionaire patriarch Pallonji Mistry and Patsy Perin Dubash. He studied at the Cathedral & John Connon School in South Mumbai. He graduated in commerce from the University of Mumbai and then studied civil engineering from the Imperial College, London. He then followed it up with a master's degree in management from London Business School. 

Later, Mistry was awarded International Executive Masters in management from the University of London in 1996. 

Career

Cyrus Mistry entered the family business in 1991 and became the director of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co Ltd. Three years later, he was appointed managing director of the group. Under his stewardship, the turnover of Shapoorji Pallonji's construction business grew from $20 million to almost $1.5 billion. Mistry also oversaw the diversification of the company from construction to design and building of complex projects in the marine, oil & gas and railway sectors. 

Mistry also served as a non-executive director at Forbes Gokak Ltd and was associated with Convergence Media Pvt Ltd as senior vice-president for operations and planning, and UTV Toons India.

In the 1930s, Mistry's grandfather, Shapoorji Mistry, had first acquired a stake in Tata Sons. Cyrus Mistry joined the board of Tata Sons in September 2006, a year after his father retired from the organisation. 

Known to like golf, the late business magnate was considered a studious backroom executive with a sharp mind.

The Economist termed Cyrus Mistry in a 2013 article as 'the most important industrialist in both India and Britain'.

Cyrus Mistry became the deputy chairman of the Tata group in 2011 and then succeeded Ratan Tata as chairman of Tata Sons amid huge fanfare in December 2012. A year later, he took over as the chairman of Tata Sons.

On the selection of his successor, Ratan Tata had said he was impressed by the "quality and calibre" of Mistry's participation on the Tata Sons board and praised his "astute observations and humility". 

"Be your own man, you should take your own calls and you should decide what you want to," Ratan Tata said in an interview when asked what he would like to advise if Mistry asked.

Apart from handling his responsibilities at the Shapoorji Pallonji group, he also served as the chairman of all major Tata companies, including Tata Industries, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Chemicals, Tata Power, Tata Teleservices, Tata Global Beverages and Indian Hotels.

However, in October 2016, he was ousted from the position following a boardroom coup. A long-drawn legal battle ensued.

The Mistry family is the single-largest shareholder of Tata Sons with over an 18 per cent stake in Tata Sons. During his time at the helm of the Tata group, Mistry worked with a specially formed group executive council (GEC) comprising hand-picked executives from within the Tata group, industry executives and also academia to drive operations effectively.