Half-brother Noel to succeed Ratan Tata as chairman of Tata Trusts

Mumbai: Noel Tata, the half-brother of late Ratan Tata, will be the next chairman of Tata Trusts, sources said on Friday.

The 67-year-old Noel was chosen by the board to lead the string of philanthropic trusts that control the Tata empire.

Having functioned mostly under the shadows of his illustrious half-brother, Noel will now have the responsibility of leading the Tata Trusts -- broadly comprising Sir Ratan Tata Trust & Allied Trusts, and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust & Allied Trusts -- that hold a controlling 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons, the holding and promoter firm of Tata Group companies.

He is already a trustee on the boards of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.

Known to keep a low profile, Noel has been a trustee on the important trusts, and was also seen at the cremation of his half brother on Thursday.

The meeting of the Tata Trusts board was held to choose the successor to Ratan Tata after his demise on Wednesday. A formal announcement of the successor is expected later in the day.

Noel has been involved with the Tata Group since 1999, and chairs the successful retail arm Trent, which looks after chains like Westside and Zudio and commands a market capitalisation of over Rs 2 lakh crore. He is also the chairman of Voltas and Tata International.

Noel is married to Aloo Mistry, the sister of the late Cyrus Mistry and a part of the Shapoorji Pallonji family, which is the single largest private shareholder of Tata Sons with more than 18.4 per cent holding.

Relations between the Shapoorji Pallonji group and the Tatas have not been warm since the sacking of Cyrus Mistry from the chairmanship of Tata Sons.

Tata Sons operates all commercial enterprises in the group and collectively reported revenues of USD 165 billion last year.

Noel was seen as a front runner to succeed Ratan Tata at Tata Trusts, and there was also speculation about Ratan Tata's long-time confidante Mehli Mistry.

According to some reports, Mehli, who is already a trustee on the Tata Trusts, is being considered to be made as a permanent trustee. However, there was no confirmation of the same.

Inputs from PTI