Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata passed away on Wednesday night (October 9) due to age-related complications. He was 86. Ratan Tata was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on Monday (October 7). Ratan Tata was an industrialist par excellence and had played an important role in making Tata Group a force reckoned with not only in India but across the globe too. Here we will talk about the man who once held the largest individual shareholder in Tata Group. His name was Pallonji Mistry. Pallonji Mistry was born in 1929 and studied at Mumbai’s Cathedral and John Cannon School before going to Imperial College in London. Pallonji Mistry completed his civil engineering in England. After completing his engineering from London Pallonji Mistry returned to India and in 1954 he took over the family business. It is to be noted that Pallonji Mistry’s father started the business in 1865. Pallonji Mistry was married to Patsy Perin Dubash an Irish national and became an Irish citizen. Cyrus Mistry who was made the Chairman of the Tata Group was Pallonji Mistry’s son. His eldest son Shapoor now heads the Shapoorji Pallonji group. When Pallonji Mistry was alive he led the USD 5 billion SP Group whose main business is in the construction business. SP Group now also has business interests in textiles shipping and home appliances. The SP Group has built some iconic buildings in India’s commercial capital Mumbai including the buildings for the State Bank of India and the Reserve Bank of India headquarters.