Former Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry, 54, dies in car accident

Cyrus Mistry, former chairman of the Tata group, died in a car accident near Mumbai. He was 54.

Mistry was travelling from Ahmedabad to Mumbai in a Mercedes car.

“The accident took place around 3.15 p.m., when Mistry was travelling to Mumbai from Ahmedabad. The accident took place on a bridge over the Surya river. It seems (like) an accident,” said Palghar district superintendent of police, Balasaheb Patil.

Condolences poured in for the former Tata group chairman from his former colleagues, Indian business and political leaders. “The untimely demise of Shri Cyrus Mistry is shocking. He was a promising business leader who believed in India’s economic prowess. His passing away is a big loss to the world of commerce and industry,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

India Inc leaders said Mistry’s untimely death is shocking. “So sad to hear of the shocking news of the passing away of Cyrus Mistry in an accident. He was a friend, a gentleman, a man of substance. He was instrumental in creating the global construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji and ably led the Tata group,” said Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG group.

“What an amazing person that I had the privilege to know. Smart, thoughtful, dedicated to firm and family, with the highest integrity. He gave a an opportunity and life lessons for which I will be forever grateful. Gone so soon and so young. Life is truly unfair!,” said former Tata executive and currently Lee Kong Chian Professor of marketing at Singapore Management University, Nirmalya Kumar.

Indian commerce minister, Piyush Goyal said: “Deeply anguished and shocked by the sudden passing away of Cyrus Mistry. Indian industry has lost one of its shining stars whose contributions to India’s economic progress will always be remembered.”

Mistry, who studied in Cathedral and John Cannon School and London Business School, became the chairman of Tata group in 2012 after a year-long search by Tata Sons, the holding company of the $103 revenue group. The Mistry family owns 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons, while the Tata Trusts own 66 per cent stake.

But within a few years, the relations between Tata group patriarch Ratan Tata and Mistry soured with Tata Sons board removing Mistry from the top position in October 2016, just a few months before his five-year term was to end.

Mistry moved the courts which culminated in 2021 with the Supreme Court ruling in favour of the Tata group.

In June this year, Cyrus Mistry’s father Pallonji Mistry died at the age of 93 due to old age.

Mistry was married to Rohiqa Chagla, the daughter of lawyer Iqbal Chagla and granddaughter of jurist M C Chagla. The couple have two sons, Firoz Mistry and Zahan Mistry.