Noel Tata Likely Set to Become Chairman of Tata Trusts
No one knows the information that has been divulged in the closed-door meetings of Tata Trusts holding a majority stake in the Tata Group. Noel Tata, half-brother of Ratan Tata, is all set to take over as chairman of Tata Trusts after the meeting on Friday morning to name a successor for the late Ratan Tata. The philanthropic arms of Tata Trusts are likely to name Noel Tata for the prized position.
She is an observer on the two large trusts-the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which together own 66% of Tata Sons, the holding company for the diversified Tata Group, from salt to software. Although Tata Trusts hasn't officially weighed in on the nomination, all around it appears there is broad backing for having someone with a Tata surname as successor. After the announcement, most members of the Parsi community continued to see Noel as the unanimous choice under a deep-rooted tradition of leadership well-rooted in the family.
Venu Srinivasan of TVS and former defense secretary Vijay Singh have also been appointed as the vice-chairmen of Tata Trusts since 2018, underlining the collaborative governance model. Unlike the highly visible leader-style of Ratan Tata with lots of media engagements and significant public presence, Noel Tata has relatively been unspectacular. Noel Tata has mainly focused on Tata Group's global ventures and the retail sector, keeping himself away from limelight.
Ratan Tata was the last person to hold the two positions of chairman of Tata Trusts and chairman emeritus of Tata Sons. However, 2022 brought a change to that when Tata Sons board amended its Articles of Association so that one person was not holding both those positions together. In a significant filing to the Supreme Court as part of the legal battle against Cyrus Mistry, Ratan Tata was quoted saying that though he was, at present the chairman of the trusts, tomorrow someone might be, for all he cared, not necessarily carrying the Tata name.
Noel Tata has been with the Tata Group for more than four decades and assumes many important roles within the Tata Group. He sits on many Tata company boards - chairman Tata International Limited, Voltas, and Tata Investment Corporation, and vice chairman of Tata Steel and Titan Company Limited. His very long experience cuts through all guns blazing with him having been managing director of Trent, spearheaded significant growth of the retail chain into a company valued at Rs 2.8 lakh crore in a decade, among other successful tenures. Also, during his tenure in Tata International Limited as managing director, Noel Tata also helped the company to raise its turnover from $500 million in August 2010 to over $3 billion by November 2021.
Noel Tata is a post-graduate from Sussex University in the UK. Moreover, Noel has undergone training under the International Executive Programme of INSEAD and has greatly helped him to understand business leadership from a global perspective. His family's hand remains firmly planted in the Tata Group; his son, Neville Tata, joined Trent in 2016 and has recently taken charge of Star Bazaar. This marks the growing influence of the young generation within the Tata legacy. No stranger to innovation, Noel Tata's daughters are also making their mark within the Tata Group: Leah Tata was recently mandated to lead the Gateway brand at Indian Hotels, and Maya Tata works at Tata Digital, focusing on new-age analytics and technology. Additional trustees of five trusts associated with the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust have been appointed as Leah, Maya, and Neville.
As Noel Tata steps into this new turn, he confirms the leadership legacy that has been engraved in the Tata Group for generations, meanwhile the scion of this family into business and social change lays down further steps towards the continuation of the path.
