Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry (born 1929) is an Irish construction tycoon. According to Forbes, his wealth is estimated to be US$8.8 billion as of 2011. He is the richest person of Parsi descent followed by Adi Godrej at US$7.3 Billion (130 on Forbes List). With his 18.4% stake in Tata Sons, he is the single largest shareholder in India's largest private conglomerate Tata Group. He is also the Chairman of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group through which he owns Shapoorji Pallonji Construction Limited, Forbes Textiles and Eureka Forbes Limited. He is also the former Chairman of Associated Cement Companies. Pallonji gave up his Indian citizenship in 2003 in order to obtain Irish citizenship, because India does not yet allow dual citizenship. His son Cyrus has been named as the deputy chairman of Tata Sons and shall succeed Ratan Tata in December 2012. A short biography of Mistry was written in a 2008 book by Manoj Namburu titled The Moguls of Real Estate.
Personal Life and Wealth
Mistry's father first bought shares in the Tata Sons in the 1930s, a stake that currently stands at 18.4%. Mistry is the largest single shareholder in Tata Sons, a firm mostly controlled by trusts. The Mistrys have a huge construction company, Shapoorji Pallonji. Shapoorji, the group patriarch and Pallonji's father, built some of Mumbai's landmarks around the Fort area - the Hong Kong Bank, Grindlays Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Reserve Bank of India building.
Mistry is an extraordinarily low-profile billionaire, never giving interviews and rarely being seen out in public. He is often described as being media shy. His employees call him the man with no faults, his friends describe him as humble and within the Tata Group he is known as the Phantom of Bombay House for the quiet but assured way he commands power around the south Mumbai headquarters of the Tata empire.
In 2003, he became an Irish citizen "on the basis of his marriage to an Irish born national", Pat (Patsy) Perin Dubash, who was born in September 1939 in Hatch Street Nursing House in Dublin. He gave up his Indian Citizenship as the Indian Government currently does not allow dual citizenship, though he remains resident in Mumbai. He owns a stake in the Taj Mahal Hotel which was attacked by terrorists in 2008. The family’s interest in Ireland is compounded by their love of horses. They own a 200 acres (0.81 km2) stud farm in Pune, India. It’s a lavish operation, with the drinking water for the 100 or so horses specially filtered. Mistry also owns a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) home in Pune.
He has two sons - Shapoor and Cyrus Pallonji Mistry and two daughters - Laila and Aloo. His son, Shapoor Mistry is married to Behroze Sethna the daughter of lawyer Rusi Sethna. The second son, Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, is married to Rohika Chagla the daughter of lawyer Iqbal Chagla. His daughter, Laila, is married to Rustom Jehangir and his daughter, Aloo, is married to Noel Tata, the half-brother of Ratan Tata. His son-in-law, Noel Tata, is the CEO of the retail arm of the Tata Group. His son, Cyrus Pallonji Mistry,has been named deputy chairman of Tata Sons and will succeed Ratan Tata when he retires in December 2012 as the next chairman of the $83 billion Tata Group.
Religion
Pallonji Mistry is a Parsi, his religion being Zoroastrianism.
From : www.wikipedia.org
