Mistry with the Midas touch

Denny Thomas

MUMBAI: Construction baron, Pallonji Mistry, India's fifth wealthiest man, just got $1.7 billion richer.

The reason is Wednesday's sizzling stock market debut of the flagship software company of the Tata group, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS).

The enigmatic 75-year-old's investment firm owns nearly a fifth of the holding company that controls India's second-biggest conglomerate and owns 87 percent of TCS. Shares of TCS rose 24 percent in their debut, valuing the company at $10.8 billion.

That means Mistry's stake is worth about $1.7 billion. Forbes magazine already ranked Mistry, chairman of privately-held Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd, as the fifth richest Indian, with an estimated net worth of about $2.3 billion.

Mistry, whose stake in Tata Sons dates back to his father's association with the Tatas, has always been a spectator to events at Bombay House, the headquarters of the Tata group. That has given him the epithet Phantom of the Bombay House.

Though reclusive, Mistry built a booming construction business. He did not diversify or acquire companies in his patch, preferring instead to consolidate. People who know him describe him as humble and affable.

"Humility is what one learns in this company," says an employee.

Mistry, who, like the Tatas, is a member of the entrepreneurial Parsi ethnic community -- has rarely given interviews. His younger son Cyrus P. Mistry, managing director of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd, reluctantly agreed to speak about his father.

"He has excellent business acumen and is unassuming," he said. In early 1970s, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd. started bidding for projects in the Middle East and won a contract to build the palace of the Sultan of Oman. "That was the biggest challenge my father undertook, and in a sense he was the pioneer in taking Indian construction business overseas," Cyrus said.

Pallonji didn't look back and built many landmark structures in the Middle East. His imposing structures have also filled out the skyline of India's financial capital.

His family is said to have substantial real estate holdings in Mumbai and other parts of the country.

Pallonji lives with his wife and two sons in a cream-colored Georgian mansion overlooking the Arabian Sea in Mumbai. He spends about an hour in prayer each day and is an intense family man, Cyrus said.

The family also has passion for horses, and runs two stud farms in Pune -- about 163 km south of Mumbai. Mistry's eldest son Shapoor looks after the farms.

Known to never lose his cool, Pallonji commands immense respect in the business community.

"He doesn't throw his weight around. He is not here to make quick money. His philosophy is to run a sustained business," said an acquaintance, who has known Pallonji for nearly a decade.