New Delhi: He was considered a potential candidate to lead Tata Sons – the holding company of the Tata Group, when legendary industrialist and his half-brother Ratan Tata was retiring in 2012. But the low-profile, Irish national Noel Tata saw his brother-in-law Cyrus Mistry take that role.
After the death of Ratan Tata, Noel, 67, succeeded him as the head of Tata Trusts, a collective of charities that indirectly controls the USD 165 billion business empire spread across 100 countries.
Ratan Tata, who is credited with taking Tata global and growing the conglomerate as one of India’s most respected groups, passed away on October 9 at the age of 86. He was the chair for Tata Trusts, which owns 66 per cent of closely held Tata Sons Pvt Ltd – the holding company of the group.
Tata Sons is 65.9 per cent owned by the trusts, 12.87 per cent by half a dozen Tata Group companies, and 18.4 per cent by the Mistry family. Tata Sons runs 30 firms across consumer goods, hotels, automobiles and airlines.
Noel is known for his relatively low-profile leadership style, a stark contrast to predecessor’s more public-facing role. Though being on the board of several Tata Group firms, Noel has remained out of the limelight and instead focused on operations.
He is also on the board of key Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust since 2019. His children – Maya, Neville and Leah – were appointed as trustees in multiple trusts associated with the Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust earlier this year.
After graduating from Sussex University in the United Kingdom, Noel completed the International Executive Programme (IEP) from INSEAD in France.
Noel’s career began at Tata International, where he gained understanding of Tata Group’s global operations. In June 1999, he joined his mother Simone Dunoyer’s retail business, Trent, as managing director. Under his leadership, Trent expanded significantly, especially with the creation of the Westside retail chain.
In 2003, he took on new responsibilities when he was appointed director of Voltas and Titan Industries.
He currently serves on the board of various Tata Group companies, including as the Chairman of Trent, Tata International Ltd, Voltas & Tata Investment Corporation and as the Vice Chairman of Tata Steel and Titan Company Ltd.
He has been associated with the Tata Group for over 40 years.
His last executive assignment was as the Managing Director of Tata International Ltd, the trading and distribution arm of the Tata Group, between August 2010 and November 2021. He had overseen the growth of the company from a turnover of USD 500 million to over USD 3 billion.
Before his stint in Tata International, Noel Tata served as the Managing Director of Trent Ltd, Tata group’s retail arm. He played a pivotal role in the growth of Trent across formats, from a one-store operation in 1998 to over 700 stores across formats.
Apart from his positions within the Tata Group, he also serves on the boards of Smiths Plc and Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.
Noel is the son of Naval H Tata and Swiss businesswoman Simone H. Tata. Naval was previously married to Soonoo Commisariat, with whom he fathered two children, Ratan and Jimmy.
While Ratan and Jimmy never married, Noel is married to Aloo Mistry, daughter of late Pallonji Mistry and sister of late Cyrus Mistry. They have three children – daughters Leah and Maya and son Neville.
The Shapoorji Pallonji family owns an 18.4 per cent stake in Tata Sons.
Leah Tata currently is vice president at The Indian Hotels Co – the firm that runs the Taj group of hotels, while Maya is associated with Tata Capital. Neville is involved in Trent and Star Bazaar.
Tata Trusts, which controls the group holding company Tata Sons, is an umbrella body that manages functions of 14 Tata trusts.
Tata Trusts appoints an executive committee that oversees operations and support management. That committee till now was chaired by Ratan Tata and had Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh (vice chairman of Tata Trusts) and Mehli Mistry (trustee of the Trusts).
Ownership of Tata Sons is largely held by two key trusts – Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust. These two trusts together own over 50 per cent of Tata Sons.
