Key in getting the SP Group back in shape, Cyrus leaves a big gap

This had come as a big relief to the Shapoorji Pallonji Group which was facing defaults on commercial papers. Cyrus played a key role in the restructuring plan under which the group planned to monetise its assets and sell stake in some of the group companies including Eureka Forbes and Sterling and Wilson Solar among others.

Warmly welcomed back into the group by his elder brother Shapoor Mistry after helming the Tata Group for almost four years, he along with his brother followed up on the OTR, paid off the entire debt, and exited the scheme in March this year. Not only was the OTR one of the largest, but also one of the first to be fully repaid.

Policemen inspect the car after the crash.

Described by people who know him closely as a highly capable individual, Mistry launched two limited liability partnerships in April-May 2018 – Mistry Ventures LLP and CPM NexGen Ventures LLP. He is also on the board of seven other companies including Cyrus Investments Private Ltd.

Besides Tata Sons and Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Mistry had also served as a director on the boards of several other firms, including Forbes Gokak and United Motors (India). He was a trustee of NICMAR, an autonomous, not-for-profit, academic body.

Prof Nirmalya Kumar, the Lee Kong Chian Professor of Marketing at Singapore Management University, who worked as Member, Strategy, in the Group Executive Council of Tata Sons, during Mistry’s time in the Tata Group, said Cyrus was a “brilliant and understated human being”. “Loved your smarts and integrity. You gave me an opportunity no one else would have – and mentored me with patience. Let me argue in front of others which no other promoter would have tolerated,” he said in a tweet.

Cyrus was the younger son of Pallonji Mistry, who died in June this year. He was the sixth Chairman of Tata Sons and was the second person from outside the Tata family to head the group in its over 150 years of existence. He took over the chairmanship in December 2012 after Ratan Tata retired from his executive role. In November 2011, Mistry was appointed the Deputy Chairman of the Tata Group; he was a board member in Tata Sons since 2006 after his father retired.

The SUV in which Cyrus Mistry was travelling is towed away, in Maharashtra’s Palghar, Sunday. (ANI )

After his ouster as Tata Sons Chairman in October 2016 due to reports of disagreements with Ratan Tata over several business decisions, he was also removed as a director on the board of the holding company in February 2017. The Mistry family owns 18.5 per cent stake in Tata Sons and is the largest single shareholder in Tata Sons.

Born July 4, 1968, Cyrus Mistry completed his graduation in Civil Engineering from the Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London. He also holds a master’s degree in management from the London Business School and is a fellow at the Institution of Civil Engineers. He was involved in the family’s flagship construction business before he left it to join the Tatas.

There were four people in the vehicle, of which two, including Mistry, died on the spot.

Cyrus was the Managing Director of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group till he moved to Tata Sons. Having joined the family group in 1991 as a director, he has been credited with the group’s expansion outside India, in the Middle East and Africa.

He had challenged his ouster from the Tata Group in the National Company Law Tribunal, but his petition was rejected. Though that decision was overturned by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in 2019, his dismissal was upheld by the Supreme Court. Among the reasons cited for his removal was the fact that he had replaced some trusted hands of Ratan Tata and his proposed sale of the Tata Steel port plant in the UK was not taken well. Further, the long dispute with Japan’s Docomo group also worked against him.