The accident occurred on a river bridge in Maharashtra state’s Palghar district near Mumbai on Sunday, police officer Prakash Gaekwad said. Mistry served as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the $300 billion Tata software conglomerate, until he was removed by the board in October 2016. He challenged the board’s decision, but India’s top court upheld the dismissal of . Politicians and business leaders reacted with shock to the news of Mistry’s death. The prime minister, Narendra Modi, said Mistry was a promising business leader who believed in India’s economic strength. “His death is a great loss to the world of commerce and industry,” he said. Anand Mahindra, an Indian businessman, said: “I was convinced he was destined for greatness. If life had other plans for him, so be it, but life itself should not have taken it from him.’ Mistry was traveling to Mumbai from Gujarat with three others, said B Patil, the top police official in Palghar district. The car in which Mistry was traveling crashed into a divider and he died on the spot, a senior Mumbai police official said. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), in which Tata Sons holds a majority stake, said it was mourning the untimely death of its former chairman. “He was a warm, friendly and kind person who built a strong relationship with the TCS family during his tenure as the company’s chairman,” it said in a statement. Mistry held an 18.4% stake in Tata Sons through his company, Cyrus Investments. In 2018, his net worth was around $10 billion. Mistry joined the family construction firm Shapoorji Pallonji and Co as managing director in 1991. A graduate in civil engineering from Imperial College London and management from the London Business School, Mistry described himself as a voracious business reader and golfer and shared his family’s love of horses. He is survived by his wife and two sons. With Reuters
