All You Need To Know About Cyrus Mistry And His Shapoorji Pallonji Group

Founded in 1865 as Littlewood Pallonji, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s (SPG) first projects was construction of pavements in Mumbai. This was followed by the construction of a water reservoir on Malabar Hill which supplied water to Mumbai for about 100 years. The Group has grown since then to emerge as a pioneer in the field of engineering and construction. Among its other notable constructions include Mumbai's Brabourne Stadium, Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru stadium and Mumbai Central railway station.

SPG was steered by Pallonji Mistry till his death in June this year. His sons are Cyrus and Shapoor. At the time of his death Pallonji's wealth was estimated at $29 billion making him the 143rd richest person in the world. Currently, Cyrus' Shapoor Mistry is at the helm of the SPG.

SPG's association with the Tata Group began in 1935, when Shapoorji Pallonji bought a company called FE Dinshaw and Co., which had 12.5% stake in Tata Sons.

Over the years this stake has increased. At present, SPG holds 18.37% stake Tata Sons. 

Simply put, SPG holds the largest stake in Tata Sons outside the Tata family, which lead many to believe that the company had a strong say over the affairs of the Tata group. But the sudden ouster of Cyrus Mistry in 2016 brought to fore the feud between the Mistrys and the Tatas.

Cyrus' father Pallonji Mistry for long held the title of “The Phantom of Bombay House” for his influence at Tata’s storied colonial headquarters in south Mumbai. He gave up his seat on Tata Sons board in 2006 to make room for son Cyrus.

The SPG group is involved in several businesses ranging from textiles, hospitality, business automation to real estate. The major companies under SPG group include Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering and Construction, Afcons Infrastructure, Forbes Textiles, Gokak Textiles, Eureka Forbes, Forbes and Co, SP Construction Materials Group, SP Real Estate and Next Gen etc.

Like most Parsi families in the yearly years of Independence the world of cinema also caught the fancy of SPG, making Pallonji Mistry one of the financiers of ‘Mughal-e-Azam’. The 1960's cult historical drama directed by K.Asif. But for SPG this was their lone foray into Indian cinema; perhaps the arduous process of making this film, that took over 12 years, put them off.