Ratan Tata hit a sixer Wednesday announcing that Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, 43, would succeed him as the sixth chairman of the `379,675-crore Tata Group. Mr Mistry, Shapoorji Pallonji group managing director, will become deputy chairman
of the Tata Group now and chairman when Ratan Tata retires in December 2012.
He was unanimously chosen by a five-member selection panel which included three Tata directors (including Mr Mistry) and two “outsiders” — legal luminary Shirin Bharucha and India-born British engineer Lord Sushanta Kumar Bhattacharyya. The committee met 18 times. Those considered included Pepsi chief Indra Nooyi and former Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin. The deciding factor, sources said, was that Mr Tata wanted a man of integrity who would maintain the Tata image.
Mr Mistry will be the second non-Tata family member to head the group. His only association, besides his 18.5 per cent shareholding, was as non-executive member on the Tata Sons board, to which he was inducted in 2006. A civil engineer, Cyrus succeeded his father Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, the world’s richest Parsi, when he retired at the age of 76. He is credited with the Pallonji group registering many firsts in India — building the tallest residential towers, the longest rail bridge, largest dry dock and the largest affordable housing project. He is also the brother-in-law of Noel tata, Ratan Tata’s step-brother.
Mr Ratan Tata, in a statement, said Cyrus P. Mistry’s appointment as Tata Sons deputy chairman “is a good and farsighted choice”. Mr Tata called him “intelligent and qualified to take on the responsibility being offered, and I will be committed to working with him over the next year to give him the exposure, involvement and operating experience to equip him to undertake the full responsibility on my retirement (December 2012).” Mr Mistry said he was “deeply honoured” and was aware that “a great legacy has been entrusted to me”.