On September 4, Cyrus Mistry, the former chairman of the conglomerate Tata Group, which produces everything from salt to software, perished in a car accident. Despite the outpouring of condolences from all corners, including politicians, businesspeople, and ministers, some of Mistry's close friends and the Tata Group conglomerate have expressed their opinions on the occurrence.
"I am shocked and saddened by Mr. Cyrus Mistry's unexpected death. It is terrible that he died at such a young age because he had a passion for life. In these trying times, please accept my sincere condolences and prayers for his family, said N Chandrasekaran, the current chairman of Tata Sons.
In a series of tweets, Nirmalya Kumar, a professor at Singapore Management University who served on Mistry's core group executive council (GEC) until his firing in 2016 thanked him for the lessons in life and for teaching him corporate governance.
"My longtime friend, chairman of Tata Sons, and former boss. I'm grateful for the lessons in life. We laughed together last month on a London park bench, and now I'm inconsolable," tweeted Kumar. The author, R Gopalakrishnan, a former ED at Tata Sons, praised Mistry's initiative to forge ties inside the Tata Group throughout his tenure while also praising his modesty.
"Cyrus Mistry had the qualities of a brilliant professional and was a very wonderful human being. He had excellent credentials and was witty. His humility, out of all his attributes, stuck out to me. When he first joined the Tata Group, he made making friends with and developing relationships with a large number of group members a top focus. In a very short period of time, he made an attempt to connect with them and get to know them.
He learned to deal with the difficulties of his position. In retrospect, it appears that he was either misunderstood or misjudged during the consultation and execution phases, or possibly a combination of both. It resulted in the regrettable circumstance of his termination as chairman of Tata Sons. I sincerely regret his passing, and my thoughts are with his family. He has a pure heart. RIP, Gopalakrishnan stated.
According to Dr. Mukund Rajan, who served as the Tata Group's brand custodian and a member of the group executive council under Cyrus Mistry, Mistry foresaw the need for the Tata Group to adopt Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) guidelines, something that is now becoming standard among international companies.
I held a position in Cyrus' Group Executive Council where I was in charge of the Tata Corporate Brand. Because he believed that the Tata brand was founded on the twin pillars of commitment to society and good governance, he combined the positions of Chairman of the Tata Global Sustainability Council and Chief Ethics Officer under the Brand Custodian,
something that more international organisations are now starting to do with the new focus on Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG). This speaks to the kind of visionary leader he was. "Cyrus was a voracious reader who kept a close eye on management and business trends. He was a fantastic judge of character and the astutest leader I have ever worked with. His untimely passing constitutes a significant loss for Corporate India and the nation, according to Rajan.