Mehli Mistry: The man who had Ratan Tata's Trust
Nine years ago, Cyrus Mistry was ousted as the chairman of Tata Sons, a shock development that sparked a series of court battles. Now, another Tata-Mistry battle is brewing, after Mehli Mistry, a close confidant of Ratan Tata, was ousted from the boards of Tata Trusts.
Late industrialist Ratan Tata left his heirloom guns to Mehli Mistry, his close confidant for decades. In the coming battle between Mistry and the trustees of Tata Trusts, guns will be drawn, albeit metaphorically.
Mistry, who inherited Tata's Alibaug bungalow and executed his will, was ousted from the boards of Tata Trusts on Wednesday. According to people close to him, the businessman is expected to launch a legal challenge to his ouster soon. The exit marks an abrupt end to Mistry's tenure at the philanthropic trusts that own the majority of Tata Sons, the holding company of the sprawling Tata Group.
Mistry heads the M. Pallonji Group, which has interests in shipping, dredging and auto dealerships. Appointed in November 2022 to the boards of two of the largest Tata Trusts—the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust—Mehli was a staunch ally of Ratan Tata. His appointment back then was seen as the late Tata Group patriarch entrusting his key allies at the helm of the philanthropic bodies that control the fabled business group.
Mentor
Mistry had expressed his admiration for Ratan Tata when he told this publication in 2022, post his appointment to the Tata Trusts boards, that he considered the industrialist his mentor.
“I’ll do whatever he wants me to do. I have to secure his interests at all times," he said.
The ouster of Cyrus Mistry as chairman of Tata Sons in 2016 led to a protracted Tata-Mistry clash that played out across various forums. Mehli Mistry will launch a legal challenge to his ouster, people close to him said, presaging another high-stakes Tata-Mistry battle in the courts, this time involving different individuals in new circumstances.
Incidentally, it was Mehli Mistry who had proposed appointing Noel Tata as the chairman of the two main Tata Trusts, days after the death of Ratan Tata last year. Noel Tata was one of the three trustees who on Wednesday voted Mistry out of the same trusts.
Tata Trusts
Tata Trusts is an umbrella entity that comprises 15 philanthropic entities, six of which own shares in Tata Sons. Sir Ratan Tata Trusts and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, on whose boards Mistry was a trustee, own 27.98% and 23.56% of Tata Sons, respectively. The smaller trusts hold the remaining 14.38%, giving the Tata Trusts an ownership of 65.9% of Tata Sons.
The Shapoorji Pallonji family owns 18.38% in Tata Sons, while nine Tata Group companies own 12.86%. Seven individuals own the remaining 2.87% of Tata Sons' shares. Incidentally, Noel is the single largest individual shareowner, owning 1% of the shares. Ratan Tata owned 0.83%, while his brother Jimmy owns another 0.81%.
Mistry is also related to Noel Tata's wife. Mehli’s mother and the mother of Cyrus, Aloo, Shapoor and Laila Mistry were sisters. Noel Tata is married to Aloo Mistry. Shapoor Mistry is the chair of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group.
Lineage
Mehli Mistry's maternal grandfather lived in England, where his mother was born. The family then took shelter in Ireland during the Second World War, where the mother of Shapoor and Aloo Mistry was born. The small detail holds significance even today—Mehli Mistry holds a British passport, while Shapoor Mistry, his sister Aloo and Noel Tata are Irish citizens.
Mehli Mistry and Aloo Mistry are also related on the paternal side— their fathers were first cousins. Their great-grandfather set up a small construction firm called Littlewood Pallonji in 1865, the progenitor of both the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and the M Pallonji Group.
Mehli’s father Kersasp Mistry then started a business that took contracts for painting and coating at an industrial scale. Under Mehli and his brother Pheroze, this business diversified into dredging, barging and shipping. The growth of the M. Pallonji group was closely tied to the Tata Group, and the two houses had business relations dating back to the 1950s. It was with Tata Power that the group diversified into dredging in the 1990s. Today, it also runs several Tata Motors dealerships through Sterling Motors.
Close ties
The close-knit relationships between the Tatas and the Mistrys put Mehli in a tricky position when the conflict flared between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry nine years ago. He had then voiced his support for Tata, whom he considered a mentor, over Cyrus, with whom he already had a strained relationship. Later, the Cyrus Mistry camp had even named Mehli Mistry in some of the numerous court cases that followed.
Mistry had then purchased ₹200 crore worth of Tata Power shares to show his solidarity with Ratan Tata and the Tata Group.
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