Noel Tata Joins Tata Sons Board as Nominee of Tata Trusts
Mumbai: Noel Tata has been appointed to the board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, as a nominee of Tata Trusts. This follows the recent passing of Ratan Tata, under whom Noel Tata had been named chairman of the board last month. The decision was finalized during a virtual meeting of Tata Sons held on the eve of Diwali, according to sources familiar with the development. With this appointment, Noel Tata becomes the first member of the Tata family in over a decade to serve simultaneously on the boards of both Tata Sons and Tata Trusts. Tata Trusts holds a controlling 66% stake in Tata Sons, making it the largest shareholder.
Noel Tata’s appointment brings the total number of nominee directors from Tata Trusts on the Tata Sons board to three, joining TVS chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan and former defense ministry official Vijay Singh. Together with Singh, Srinivasan, and Mehli Mistry, Noel Tata forms part of the executive committee that governs Tata Trusts.
As per the Articles of Association of Tata Sons, the Trusts are entitled to nominate one-third of the board members. The current Tata Sons board consists of nine directors, including two executive directors—chairman N. Chandrasekaran and Noel Tata—along with three non-executive directors (Srinivasan and Singh), and four independent directors.
Following his appointment, Noel Tata met with N. Chandrasekaran to discuss fostering a collaborative relationship between them, sources noted. He continues to hold various leadership roles, including non-executive director and chairman of Tata Investment Corporation, Trent, and Voltas, as well as vice-chairperson and non-executive director at Titan and Tata Steel.
Previously, Ratan Tata held both the chairman positions of Tata Trusts and Tata Sons. However, in 2022, the Tata Sons board amended its Articles of Association to separate these leadership roles to ensure no one individual would hold both titles.
Noel Tata, 67, had retired from his executive roles at group companies in line with the group’s mandatory retirement policy at age 65. However, there are no retirement age restrictions for his roles as chairman or trustee, which allows him to continue leading various group companies in a non-executive capacity.
Notably, as chairman of Trent since April 2014, Noel Tata was instrumental in increasing the retailer’s revenue by 430%, from ₹2,333 crore in FY14 to ₹12,375 crore in FY24, and turning a ₹19 crore loss into a ₹1,477 crore profit. His leadership at Voltas, where he became chairman in 2017, saw the company’s revenue double from ₹6,404 crore in FY17 to ₹12,481 crore in FY24, with its stock appreciating nearly 300%. Additionally, Tata Investment Corporation, where Noel Tata serves as chairman, has experienced a remarkable 705% return over the past five years, far surpassing the Nifty index’s 102% return during the same period.