Cyrus Mistry: The man who once replaced Ratan Tata

Zee Media Bureau

In a surprise move, industrial conglomerate Tata Sons on Monday replaced Cyrus P. Mistry as its chairman and named Ratan N. Tata as the interim chairman of the company.

The decision was taken at the company`s board meeting, a company statement said here.

Mistry, 48, born in Ireland, took over as Chairman of Tata Sons four years ago, in December 28, 2012.

Mistry had been managing director of Shapoorji Pallonji & Company, which is part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. He joined the board of Tata Sons on September 1, 2006, a year after his father retired from it. He served as a Director of Tata Elxsi Limited, from 24 September 1990 to 26 October 2009 and was a Director of Tata Power Co. Ltd until 18 September 2006.

The youngest of Pallonji`s two sons, Mistry has two sisters and is married to Rohika Chagla, daughter of a prominent lawyer. Known for sharing his family`s love of horses, Mistry describes himself as a voracious reader of business books and a golfer. The Economist has described him as "the most important industrialist" in both India and Britain

A civil engineering graduate of Imperial College, London, the bespectacled Mistry has a Master`s of Science in Management from the London Business School.

Mistry`s grandfather first bought shares in Tata Sons in the 1930s, a stake that currently stands at 18.5 percent in the hands of Mistry`s father, Pallonji Mistry, the largest single shareholder in a firm mostly controlled by trusts.

Mistry`s father, a reclusive billionaire with an estimated wealth of $7.6 billion according to Forbes, paved the way for his younger son`s ascendancy to the top of a group founded by Ratan Tata`s great-grandfather.

In Tata circles, Pallonji is dubbed the "Phantom of Bombay House" for the quiet but assured way he commands power around the south Mumbai headquarters of the Tata empire.

When Pallonji retired from the board of Tata Sons in 2006, having been granted a year`s extension past the 75-year age cap, his then 38-year-old son stepped into his shoes.

In 2012, Mistry was appointed as the chairman of Tata Sons. In addition, he was also chairman of all major Tata companies including Tata Industries, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Power , Tata Teleservices, Indian Hotels, Tata Global Beverages and Tata Chemicals.

(With PTI inputs)