Noel Tata Appointed Chairman Of Tata Trusts: Sources

Noel Tata, the half-brother of Ratan Tata, has been appointed as the chairman of Tata Trusts, sources told NDTV Profit.

Noel Tata is the vice chairman of Tata Steel and watch company Titan. His mother Simone Tata, a French-Swiss Catholic who is Ratan Tata’s stepmother, is currently chairman of Trent, Voltas, Tata Investment Corporation, and Tata International.

Noel Tata is understood to have a majority consent, sources told NDTV Profit, adding he has been groomed over the years to take over. He has been a key figure in Tata Group’s growth since he joined in the early 2000s.

A meeting of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and the Dorabji Tata Trust is going on. Both are likely to appoint Noel Tata to the position held by the brilliant industrialist, sources said.

Tata Trust – the umbrella body that manages functions of all 14 Tata trusts – is likely to bring Noel Tata as chairman of the executive committee, sources said.

The ownership of Tata Sons is largely held by two key trusts – the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which together comprise over 50 per cent of the ownership.

Tata Trust at present has Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh, and Mehli Mistry as executive committee members.

Ratan Tata’s younger brother, Jimmy, is not involved in the family business and lives in a modest two-bedroom apartment in south Mumbai’s Colaba.

Born in a traditional Parsi family in 1937, Ratan Tata was brought up by his grandmother after his parents, Naval and Sooni Tata, divorced when he was 10.