Mistry on Tata Sons board

Cyrus Pallonji Mistry has been appointed a director in Tata Sons, the prestigious holding company of the Tata group. The 38-year-old younger son of billionaire construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry "will be one of the youngest directors of the 138-year-old company set up as a trading firm in 1868,” notes The Economic Times (ET) of September 1, 2006. Pallonji Mistry was on the board of the $ 22 billion company till the age of 76. "The Tata group’s retirement age for non executive directors is 75 but Mistry was granted a one year extension,” noted the ET report. The Mistry family holds a 18 percent stake in Tata Sons, says the newspaper. Pallonji Mistry’s father, Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry bought 12.5 percent of the Tata Sons shares from the F. E. Dinshaw estate sometime in 1930, states the ET. Pallonji Mistry’s daughter Aloo is married to Noel Tata, Tata scion Ratan Tata’s half brother.

(From left) Shapoor, Cyrus and Pallon Mistry: largest non-Tata shareholders of Tata Sons

According to the ET report, "Pallonji Mistry’s family is the biggest non-Tata shareholder in Tata Sons. In the early 1990s, he invested over Rs 60 crore of his own money in the Tata Sons rights issue to maintain his stake in the company. The other major shareholders of Tata Sons are the Tata Trusts and some of the Tata group companies…

"If he serves out his entire term, Cyrus (Mistry) could end up as one of the longest serving members on the Tata Sons board. Apart from chairman Ratan Tata, the other board members are N. A. Soonawala, the vice chairman, Dr J. J. Irani, R. Gopalakrishnan, executive director, Arun R. Gandhi, executive director, Ishaat Hussain, finance director, Alan Rosling, executive director, Far­rokh K. Kavarana and R. K. Krishna Kumar. Ratan Tata is 69 and Soonawala 71 years old. Over the past few years, some of the older members of the board have retired paving the way for the younger generation. J. E. Talaulicat, J. K. Setna, Freddie Mehta, B. G. Desh­mukh all retired...

"Cyrus and his elder brother Shapoor are also on the board of two other Tata group companies, Indian Hotels and Tata Power,” the write-up stated.