Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry's statement will be watched closely against the backdrop of the listing battle as well as the Tata leadership contest, with veto votes being cast over the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as chairman of Tata Sons for a third term.
With a net worth of $12.6 billion, Mistry is well known for constructing some of Mumbai's landmarks such as the Reserve Bank of India headquarters, The Taj Mahal Palace and Towers, and the Oberoi Hotels
Shapoorji Pallonji Group's head Pallonji Mistry died at his residence here, company officials said on Tuesday. Mistry, the largest individual shareholder in the Tata Group with a 18.4 per cent holding in the conglomerate, was 93.
Of the six chairmen that Tata group has had in its 148 years, the longest serving was Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy
'Cyrus was always very different. He would think before acting.'
'Not many know that Ratan Tata became chairman of Tata Sons because of Cyrus's father Pallonji Mistry. But he (Cyrus) never used it or leveraged it to his benefit.'
SP Group chairman Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry on Friday reiterated calls for public listing of Tata Sons to bring transparency, amid infighting among trustees of Tata Trusts which controls a 66 per cent stake in the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate. Shapoorji Pallonji family is the single largest minority shareholder with about 18.37 per cent in Tata Sons.
In the decade and a half he has been at the helm of the Rs 9,000-crore group (Rs 90-billion), Mistry has helped it build an impressive portfolio.
A family priest performed the prayers as per Parsi tradition before the last rites.
The billionaire Mistry family's estate is likely to soon change hands. The assets in the name of Cyrus Mistry, who died in September last year, may soon be divided equally among his wife Rohiqa and sons Firoz and Zahan, according to sources. The reorganisation will also include the 9.2 per cent stake in Tata Sons, which is currently in Cyrus Mistry's name and held through his investment company Cyrus Investments.
Noel Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, has presented a proposal for the Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) group to sell its 18.37 per cent stake in Tata Sons for approximately 25,000 crore, aiming to address the SP group's liquidity needs without a public listing of Tata Sons.
Even as lawyers on both sides study the pros and cons of a court battle, there are unanswered questions: When did Tata Trusts review its resolution of 2025 on backing Chandrasekaran for a third term?How will the shareholders of Tata Sons respond on listing and the leadership issue?
Mistry indeed followed standards of corporate governance so that it should not create any controversies at a later date
"A reclusive construction tycoon" is how an industry captain, who claims to be his friend, describes Cyrus. In that sense, he has striking similarities to the man he is succeeding and who he admires the most. Even after so many years of staying in the limelight, Tata also remains low-key and shy.
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea of the Sapoorji Pallonji (SP) group seeking a review of the 2021 verdict which had upheld the Tata group's decision to remove Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the Tata Sons. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, however, ordered the deletion of certain remarks made against Cyrus Mistry in the March 2021 verdict. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Tata group, said the court may permit the deletion of one or a few sentences not for the reasons given in the application of the Sapoorji Pallonji (SP) group.
Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, 43, currently the Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons has been a director of Tata Sons since 2006.
'He wanted to learn all the time.'
Chandrasekaran's exit is more than a change of chairman. It represents the breakdown of the informal consensus that governed the Tata system under Ratan Tata.
'Listing leads to greater transparency and shareholder oversight.'
'... that work is done. The task is to reallocate what has been built, with the courage of a founder and the discipline of an owner.'
'The issue appears to be less about Chandrasekaran personally and more about the direction Tata Sons should take.'
Let's take a look at 30 companies named after people.
The Tata Sons board has voted to reappoint N Chandrasekaran as chairman for a third five-year term, a decision influenced by the Reserve Bank of India's rejection of the company's application to surrender its NBFC registration, which revives the prospect of a stock market listing.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, credited with stabilising Tata Sons after a boardroom coup and overseeing significant expansion, has announced his resignation as chairman, capping a nearly decade-long tenure marked by both successes and escalating tensions with the group's controlling charitable trusts.
Former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry was on Sunday killed in a road accident after his car hit a divider in Maharashtra's Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai, a police official said.
Cyrus Mistry undertook quite a few significant initiatives at the Tata Group in the past two years.
Mehli Mistry is backed by three other trustees -- Pramit Jhaveri, Darius Khambata and Jehangir HC Jehangir -- against Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata and the two vice-chairmen, Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh.
N Chandrasekaran's letter of not seeking a third term was written to Tata Sons directors (including to Noel Tata as a nominee director) and, therefore, Tata Trusts did not have a locus standi on accepting or rejecting that letter.
'You can't have a runaway board that takes decisions against the active disagreement of the 66 per cent shareholder.'
'You can't have a runaway board that takes decisions against the active disagreement of the 66 per cent shareholder.'
People who attended the celebrations said the sincerity and passion, besides absence of smart one-liners, reminded them of his predecessor.
Just in case the AGM, scheduled At the AGM, if it is held, a shareholders' vote on Chandra's renewal as a director on the Tata Sons board is unlikely but not ruled out.
The NCLAT, in its December 18, 2019 order, had restrained the company, its board of directors and shareholders from exercising the power under the article against minority members except in exceptional circumstances and in the interest of company. A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde dealt with this issue in its 282-page verdict which set aside the NCLAT's order that had restored Cyrus Mistry as the executive chairman of the USD 100 billion salt-to-software conglomerate.
Shapoorji and Pallonji Group to contest Cyrus Mistry's ouster from Tata Sons
India's leading businessmen attended the grand banquet organised to honour US President Barack Obama at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
N Chandrasekaran will step down as chairman of Tata Sons in February 2027, concluding a decade at the helm, following a prolonged standoff over his reappointment with Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata.
A naturally reclusive nature and a conviction for the work to do the talking meant there was very little known about Mistry even during his time at the helm of Tata Sons. He did not do a single media interview from Bombay House.
While the latest trigger for him stepping down could be the uncertainty around his renewal as a director at the AGM, which is otherwise a routine matter, Chandra may have been contemplating quitting for some time now because of the overall turbulence with the principal shareholder on the leadership issue.
Ratan Tata: A Life, the much awaited biography, reveals that after a year of 'parallel running', Tata began having second thoughts about Cyrus Mistry's 'suitability'. 'Mistry targeted Ratan, the man who had elevated him from virtual oblivion into the mainstream of the Tatas...'
The Supreme Court on Friday set aside NCLAT order of December 18, 2019 restoring Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman of Tata Group.
