One of India’s most renowned businessmen, Cyrus Mistry who was famously deposed in a boardroom coup in 2016, was murdered today in a car accident. The prime minister of India led tributes to him.
Cyrus Mistry was a “promising corporate leader,” according to Narendra Modi, who also called his death “a tremendous loss to the world of trade and industry.” Mistry was a billionaire and the former chairman of Tata, India’s largest conglomerate with an annual revenue of $128 billion.
Around 3.15 p.m. today, Mr. Mistry, 54, was travelling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai when the Mercedes he was riding in collided with a divider on a bridge in Palghar.
Maharastra state police in western India reported that two passengers were hurt and one other person was killed. Mr. Mistry’s body was transported to the Kasa Rural Hospital in Gujarat for an autopsy.
The family of Mistry, who recently buried their father Pallonji Mistry at the age of 93, has taken another hit as a result of the revelation.
The Oberoi Hotel in Mumbai and the blue-and-gold Al Alam palace for the Sultan of Oman were both constructed by the Shapoorji Pallonji family construction company, which was founded over 150 years ago and now employs over 50,000 people.
Pallonji Mistry’s true wealth, however, comes from his position as Tata Sons’ greatest individual stakeholder (18.5% as of early 2022), a trading company with stakes in Tetley Tea, Jaguar Land Rover, and chemicals.
In 2012, his son Cyrus was appointed chairman of Tata Sons, making him only the second top executive to not have a Tata ancestor. But only four years later, due to criticism of his work, was he publicly fired.
An extended legal dispute between Cyrus and Ratan Tata that began in the courtroom culminated to a decision in favour of Tata Group by India’s top court that Cyrus’s dismissal was lawful.
Shapoor Mistry, Cyrus’ older brother, is the chairman of the SP Group, one of the biggest construction companies in India. The siblings, who along with their two sisters became automatic Irish citizens by virtue of their Dublin-born mother Patsy Perin Dubash, set up venture capital firm Mistry Ventures LLP in 2018.
#CyrusMistry, former Chairman of #TataSons, while travelling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai, died in a road accident after his car hit a divider. 4 people were present in the car; 2 died on spot & 2 were moved to hospital: Palghar police officials pic.twitter.com/ExLJFZ8TH7
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) September 4, 2022
