Noel Tata, half-brother of the late Ratan Tata, has been unanimously elected as the chairman of Tata Trusts following the passing of the legendary industrialist Ratan Tata, CNBC-TV18 reported on Friday. Noel Tata is already a key trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. He will now lead the trusts that hold a controlling stake in Tata Sons, the primary holding company of the Tata Group.
Who is Noel Tata?
Noel Naval Tata, 63, is the chairman of Trent and Tata Investment Corporation. He is also the managing director of Tata International and the vice-chairman of Titan Company. Noel, Ratan Tata’s half-brother and a trustee at Sir Ratan Tata Trust, is likely to be inducted as Director at the board of Tata Sons. The development has come after Sir Ratan Tata Trust, the second biggest trust of Tata Trusts after Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, appointed Noel Tata as trustee in 2019.
Noel Tata started off his journey with Tata International, Tata Group’s wing responsible for offering products and services offered abroad. He took over as the managing director of Tata Group’s retail arm Trent, in June 1999, which was founded by his mother.
Trent acquired department store Littlewoods International which was renamed Westside. Noel Tata was appointed as the director of Titan Industries and Voltas in 2003.
Noel Tata during 2010-2011, was being expected to become managing director of Tata International, raised speculation that he was being groomed to succeed Ratan Tata but in 2011 his brother-in-law Cyrus Mistry was announced as the successor to Ratan Tata.
In 2018, Noel Tata was appointed as vice-chairman of Titan Company and inducted as trustee into the board of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust in February 2019.
Noel Tata is married to Aloo Mistry, the daughter of Pallonji Mistry, who is the largest single shareholder in Tata Sons — Tata Group’s holding company and father of Cyrus Mistry.
According to Times of India, a person close to Tatas has also confirmed that Noel Tata’s appointment in Tata Sons was being seriously considered.
Tata Sons at present have 8 directors
Tata Sons, the main investment company, at present have 8 directors. The composition of directors follows as:
- N Chandrasekaran — Executive Chairman
- Farida Khambata — Former member of IFC’s management group
- Venu Srinivasan — Chairman and Managing Director of TVS Group
- Ajay Piramal — Chairman of Piramal and Shriram groups
- Ralf Speth — CEO of Jaguar Land Rover
- Bhaskar Bhat — Former Titan CEO
- Harish Manwani — Former group chairman of Unilever
- Saurabh Agrawal — Tata Sons group CFO
