Why Cyrus Mistry Was Ousted as Tata Sons Chairman

On October 24, 2016, the board of Tata Sons voted to remove Cyrus Mistry as executive chairman — barely four years after he had succeeded Ratan Tata in 2012 as only the sixth chairman in the company's history. Ratan Tata returned as interim chairman, and a search committee was formed to find a replacement.

The removal was sudden. On the same day, the Group Executive Council that advised the chairman was disbanded, and several of Mistry's top aides were asked to leave.

The next day, October 25, Mistry wrote an explosive email to the board — which was leaked to the press. In it he warned that a "realistic assessment" of the group's troubled businesses (which he called "legacy hotspots" — IHCL, Tata Motors' passenger vehicles, Tata Steel Europe, Tata Power Mundra, and the telecom business) could mean a writedown of about $18 billion over time. He also alleged corporate governance violations, including interference by trustees.

Mistry argued that his performance had only recently been praised by the Nomination and Remuneration Committee, and that the board had given no reason for his removal beyond the vote. Ratan Tata wrote to group staff on November 1 saying the removal was "absolutely necessary for the future success of the Tata group."

The fallout played out in courts for years. Mistry's family companies petitioned the National Company Law Tribunal alleging oppression and mismanagement; the NCLT upheld the removal in 2018, and after the NCLAT briefly ordered his reinstatement, India's Supreme Court upheld the removal in 2021.

Mistry died in a car accident in September 2022, ending one of the most dramatic boardroom battles in Indian corporate history.

Timeline compiled from Livemint and court reporting.