“Extremely humble, approchable to all and one who always lent a helping hand to the less fortunate”, is how the Shapoorji Pallonji Group paid its respect to Cyrus Mistry on Monday. The former chairman of Tata Sons and the younger son of Pallonji Mistry had died on Sunday in a car accident on the Ahmedabad-Mumbai highway.
Cyrus, along with gynaecologist Anahita Pandole, her husband Darius Pandole, MD and CEO of JM Financial Private Equity, and Darius’s brother Jahangir, had gone to Udwada in Gujarat to pray at the Fire Temple there, which is revered by the Parsis. The father of Darius and Jahangir, Dinshaw Pandole, had passed away recently. The Pandoles had owned the soft drinks company Duke’s, which used to make drinks like Mangola. The company was sold to PepsiCo. over two decades ago.
While they were returning, the Mercedes car, which was being driven by Dr Anahita, met with an accident on a bridge in the Palghar district, around 120km from Mumbai. Cyrus and Jahangir who were sitting in the rear died, while Dr Anahita and Darius were seriously injured and taken to a hospital in Vapi. On Monday morning, they were shifted to the HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai. A green corridor was created for the ambulances that transported them from Vapi to the hospital in south Mumbai. A team of multi-disciplinary doctors is evaluating them.
The bodies of Cyrus and Jahangir were sent to the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai for postmortem. Preliminary reports suggest the car was overspeeding and both Cyrus and Jahangir were apparently not wearing seat belts and may have died due to injuries to vital organs.
Cyrus’s funeral is at 11am on Tuesday (September 6) in Mumbai. Much of his family stays abroad and is likely to reach the city on Monday night.
Cyrus is survived by his wife Rohiqa (the daughter of prominent lawyer, Iqbal Chagla), sons Firoz and Zahan, mother Patsy Mistry, sisters Laila Rustom Jehangir and Aloo Noel Tata (Noel Tata is the half brother of Ratan Tata), and brother Shapoor Mistry. Shapoor is currently the chairman of the privately-held Shapoorji Pallonji & Company.
The group holds a little over 18 per cent stake in the Tata Sons. Cyrus was born on July 4, 1968, and had a degree in civil engineering from London’s Imperial College and masters in management from London Business School. He joined the Mistry family business in 1991 as director, overseeing the group’s construction business.
“His entrepreneurial mindset helped the Shapoorji Pallonji Group achieve many milestones over the past two decades, including one of India’s first integrated, project-financed power plants, and the development of India’s first biotechnology park,” the SP Group noted.
Cyrus also envisioned, and oversaw, the evolution of the group into an end-to-end business group, spanning design and engineering, construction, and asset development, it added.
Cyrus maintained a low profile, but came into the spotlight when he was appointed chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, in 2012. He was, however, unceremoniously sacked in 2016, a move that would sour the relations between the Mistry family and the Tatas.
Cyrus fought a long legal battle challenging the manner in which he was sacked. However, eventually, the Supreme Court ruled in the favour of the Tatas.
“Cyrus Mistry deeply valued righteousness and honesty. He was known for his transparency and integrity in all his business dealings,” the Shapoorji Pallonji Group said in a statement.
Cyrus’s sudden demise was shocking and tributes poured in from top politicians and industrialists on Sunday.
His death is the second personal loss for the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Pallonji Mistry, the father of Cyrus, had passed away in June aged 93.