A Historical Day

It was a rather historical week for Tata Group on the whole. With Ratan Tata about to retire this December at the age of 75, there was much speculation about who will be his successor, whether someone from his family or someone from the board. It was all put to an end when the announcement was made today. Cyrus P. Mistry, 43, will be crowned chairman of Tata Sons.

Ratan Tata

Considered a dark horse, Mr. Mistry is at present Managing Director of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. He is also on the board of Tata Sons, the holding company which controls the Tata Group. One of India's largest conglomerates with interests in diverse sectors such as telecom, automobile, engineering and hotels, the group is worth more than $70 billion dollars. Mr. Ratan Tata has been its chairman since 1991.

Cyrus Mistry

Mr. Mistry is the youngest son of construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry, who also owns a significant stake in the group. A unanimous choice of the committee, Mr. Mistry pipped to the post Noel Tata, younger half-brother of Mr. Ratan Tata, long considered a favourite. 

Mistry graduated from the Imperial College, London with a BE in civil engineering and holds a master of science in management from the London Business School. He has been a director of Tata Sons since September 1, 2006. He served as a Director of Tata Elxsi Limited, from September 24, 1990 to October 26, 2009 and was a Director of Tata Power Co. Ltd until September 18, 2006. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Shapoorji Pallonji Group and Afcons Infrastructure Limited.He holds Irish nationality and hails from one of the richest Indian families with a net worth of $7.6bn (£4.9bn). His family is also the single-largest shareholder in Tata Sons with a stake of 18%. Which makes him the first non-Indian national to take over the Tata Empire.

Reacting to his nomination, Mr. Mistry said, “I feel deeply honoured by this appointment. I am aware that an enormous responsibility, with a great legacy, has been entrusted to me. I look forward to Mr. Tata's guidance in the year ahead in meeting the expectations of the group."