Cyrus Mistry was sacked from Almost four years after he became the first person from outside the Tata family to head the $103 billion coffee-to-steel business empire. The industrial conglomerate on Monday replaced Cyrus P. Mistry as its Chairman and named Ratan Tata as the interim chairman of the company.
Tata, who had stepped down as chairman and was replaced by Mistry in late 2012, will head the group for four months while the company seeks a replacement.
1) Of the nine-member board, six are believed to have voted against Mistry while two abstained (Mistry didn't have a vote on this).
2) Reports said that Tata was disbanding the group executive council (GEC) - a team of core advisers that Mistry had formed. Of the five GEC members, two, including Dr Mukund Rajan and Harish Bhat, will take on senior level responsibilities within the group, Business Standard quoted its sources as saying.
3) Mistry's Shapoorji Pallonji family, one of the biggest shareholders in Tata Sons, may legally contest his departure, adding that the Tata family had sought legal advice before making the decision. Any legal challenge he mounts against his dismissal could lead to uncertainty both within and outside the group.
4) In the hours after Mistry's removal was announced on Monday, links and references to him were taken off the Tata website, including the interview, the link for which now leads to a page that reads, "The page you are looking for has been moved or removed."
5) India Inc was rather surprised by the sudden ouster of India's most respected group, Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Enterprises described the move as a corporate coup. "Ta-ta to Cyrus Mistry. Uncertainty in India's most respected group not good for the nation. What's happened to Cyrus is a 'Mistry'!" Goenka tweeted.
6) What makes his exit surprising is the fact that Mistry is not just another executive; he is son of construction tycoon Pallonji Mistry, the single largest individual shareholder in Tata Sons. The Shapoorji Pallonji group owns nearly 18 per cent stake in Tata Sons and Mistry continues to be a member on the board of directors of the Tata company.
7) Mistry's departure was deliberated over months and was a result of a difference of opinion between him and the board, reports say.
8) Shares of Tata Group companies fell on Tuesday, a day after the group ousted Cyrus P. Mistry as the chairman of the conglomerate’s holding company Tata Sons Ltd.In morning trade, Tata Steel Ltd fell 4%, Tata Global Beverages Ltd 3.3%, Tata Power Co. Ltd 2%, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd 1.2% and Tata Motors Ltd was down 2.2%. The benchmark Sensex index was down 0.1%.
