Cyrus Mistry, former chairman of Tata Sons, was killed in a road accident on Sunday after his car hit a divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district, neighbouring Mumbai. The accident took place around 3.15 pm when Mistry was travelling to Mumbai from Ahmedabad in a Mercedes car.
The other two persons travelling with him, including the car driver, were injured, reported PTI quoting Palghar district superintendent of police, Balasaheb Patil. All the injured persons have been shifted to a hospital in Gujarat, he said.
The body of Mistry has been shifted to the Kasa Rural Hospital for postmortem.
Also Read: Cyrus Mistry's death in road accident: Gadkari, Tharoor, others express shock, offer condolences
Cyrus, also known as Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, was born on July 4, 1968. He served as chairman (2012–16) of the Tata Group conglomerate. Cyrus was the younger son of Pallonji Mistry, head of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. Cyrus married the daughter of Iqbal Chagla, one of India’s most prominent lawyers in Mumbai.
Cyrus completed his education at Mumbai’s Cathedral and John Connon School before moving to England for higher education. He acquired a civil engineering degree from London’s Imperial College and a management degree from the London Business School (LBS).
Cyrus entered his family business in 1991 and became director of its flagship construction company, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd. During his two decades at Shapoorji Pallonji & Co., the company continued its expansion into large engineering projects, including building factories and power plants.
In 2006, the 38-year-old Cyrus Mistry took his father’s place on the board of the Tata Group. Pallonji Mistry was the single largest shareholder of the conglomerate.
Also Read: Watch: First visuals of Cyrus Mistry's car which crashed and caused his death
In November 2011, Cyrus was made deputy chairman of the Tata Group, with the explicit goal of taking over as chairman one year later, upon the retirement of Ratan Tata.
Cyrus Mistry was also hailed as the first non-Indian and only the second non-Tata to lead the Tata Group. Cyrus resigned from Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. after he was appointed deputy chairman of the Tata Group.
Cyrus Mistry’s responsibilities at the Tata Group included streamlining the group’s structure and consolidating related businesses. He officially succeeded Ratan Tata as chairman of the Tata Group in 2012.
However, Mistry’s tenure as chairman lasted only until October 2016, when he was abruptly dismissed.
According to reports, disagreements with members of the Tata family over business strategy were the main reason for his ouster. Mistry challenged his removal, accusing the board of mismanagement.
In 2018, National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) rejected his petition, but that decision was overturned by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in 2019. But, two years later Supreme Court upheld Mistry’s dismissal.