End of an Era: Pallonji Mistry, business tycoon passes away at 93

Shapoorji Pallonji Group chairman and billionaire industrialist Pallonji Mistry passed away late at night on Monday (June 27) in Mumbai, company officials said. The 93-year-old died in his sleep at his south Mumbai residence, officials said. As per the latest Forbes report, he had a net worth of over USD 13 billion, ranking at 143 worldwide. He was nicknamed the “Phantom of Bombay House” for his powerful boardroom presence.

Pallonji Mistry

Indian-Irish tycoon

Born: 1929 (age 93 years), India
Spouse: Pat Perin Dubash
Net worth: 1,290 crores USD (2022) Forbes
Parents: Shapoorji Pallonji
Education: Imperial College London
Children: Cyrus Mistry, Shapoor Mistry, Aloo Mistry, Laila Mistry
Grandchildren: Firoz Mistry, Zahan Mistry

Shapoorji Pallonji Group covers six business segments – engineering and construction, real estate, infrastructure, water, energy, and financial services. It is spread across 50 countries.

He is survived by his wife Patsy Perrin Dubash, and four children – two sons Shapoor Mistry and Cyrus Mistry, and two daughters Laila Mistry and Aloo Mistry. Shapoor Shapoorji runs the Pallonji Group, while Cyrus served as chairman of the Tata Group from 2012 to 2016; And Aloo is married to Ratan Tata’s half-brother Noel Tata.

He was born to a Parsi family in India, in 2003, he took up Irish citizenship through marriage. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2016 for his outstanding contributions to business and industry.

Mistry, who was born in 1929, attended the Cathedral & John Cannon School in Mumbai before continuing study at Imperial College in London. At the age of 18, he started his career by assisting his father in the family business (founded in 1865). He contributed to its expansion in the Middle East to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Qatar in the 1970s.

The 156-year-old Shapoorji Pallonji Group, established in Mumbai, today operates in the construction business across South Asia, Africa, India, the Middle East, and Africa. It was responsible for erecting several of Mumbai’s most recognizable structures, including the Brabourne Stadium, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) building, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building, and the Malabar Hill reservoir.

According to a 2018 court document, Mistry owns 18.37 percent of Tata Sons through the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. In 1930, his father Shapoorji Pallonji purchased shares of Tata Sons. It’s interesting to note that Pallonji’s father produced the biggest Hindi film blockbuster of its era, Mughal-e-Azam (1960), and was re-released by the family after it was digitally coloured in 2004. After that, the family stopped making investments in the film industry.