Pallonji Mistry, one of the oldest billionaires of India has lost a whopping $2.8 billion in a year following the economic slowdown of the country. As per Forbes the 90 years old construction tycoon’s net worth went from $17.8 billion in 2018 to $15 billion in 2019. The market crash of August 2019 cost Pallonji $281 million (Approx Rs 2000 crore).
About Pallonji
The Indian Irish billionaire and the chairman of construction giant group Shapoor Pallonji is the 14th richest person in India. According to Forbes Pallonji has multiplied his wealth nearly thrice in the last 20 years. From $5.8 billion in 2015, he now controls a fortune of $15 billion.
Interestingly, Pallonji is listed in the World’s 20 richest automobile moguls.
Shapoorji Pallonji Group
Pallonji started his company Shapoorji Pallonji in the year 1921 and soon turned it into a multibillion conglomerate with an annual revenue of $3.8 billion.
The construction group is famous for building some of the most iconic buildings of India including Taj Intercontinental Hotel, The Reserve Bank Of India building and the HSBC building. Other than that the company has also constructer the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi.
The group constitutes of Afcons, SPCL, SP International, Sterling & Wilson, SP Real Estate and consumer goods maker Eureka Forbes out of which only two of them are listed in the market.
The company at present is run by his two sons. While his eldest son Shapoorji is the Chairman of Forbes Gohak and the director of Indian Hotels Company, his younger son Cyrus Mistry was at the helm of Tata Group for a brief period is now the Managing Director of Shapoori Pallonji & Co.
The Tata Connection
Pallonji is one of the biggest stakeholders in the Tata Group and currently makes most of his fortune from his 18.5% stake in the company. He inherited the stake from his father as a legacy who bought the 17.5% stake in 1936.
Things went sour between the two business families – Tatas and Mistrys after Cyrus Mistry was sacked from Tata Sons in 2016 after which the Mistry family files many lawsuits against the group alleging corporate governance failure.
Tata Sons has also recently restricted Mistry from transferring his shares to someone else.
