Cyrus Mistry: A young tycoon who once headed Tata Group but fell from grace

New Delhi: Industrialist and former Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry, who died in a car accident in Maharashtra's Palghar on Sunday, had risen to become Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012 at the age of 44 but did not last long in the post.

Mistry, who was the sixth chairman of Tata Sons, succeeding Ratan Tata, was unceremoniously removed from the position in October 2016, over disagreements over running the conglomerate.

He was the younger son of Pallonji Mistry, head of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, a diversified conglomerate which had begun as a construction company started by Pallonji Mistry's grandfather in the 19th century.

Pallonji Mistry passed away in June this year, aged 93.

Mistry, who was born in 1968, studied civil engineering at Imperial College, London and then acquired a master's degree in management from London Business School.

He entered the family business in 1991 and became the director of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd.

Cyrus Mistry took over his father's place on the board of Tata Group after his retirement in 2006. He became the director of several Tata companies apart from handling his responsibilities with Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

He became Deputy Chairman of Tata Group in 2011 and then became the Chairman after Ratan Tata's retirement in 212.

Cyrus Mistry was the first non-Indian to lead Tata Group, as he held an Irish passport.

However, his tenure as Tata Group chairman ended abruptly in 2016 amid differences between him and Tata family over running the conglomerate.

Cyrus Mistry had challenged his removal, accusing the board of mismanagement and of oppressing minority shareholders. In 2018, the National Company Law Tribunal rejected his petition, but that decision was overturned by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal in 2019.

However, in 2021, the Supreme Court upheld Mistry's dismissal.

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