Meet Noel Tata The New Chairman Of Tata Trusts

The Media channel CNBC TV18 reported that Noel Tata has been appointed as chairman of the Tata group’s philanthropic arm Tata Trusts, on Friday. This came after the Tata Trusts board meeting befell this morning taking a unanimous decision on the new appointment. He will be the 11th chairman of Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the sixth chairman of Sir Ratan Tata Trust.

Who is Noel Tata? 

Noel Tata, the sixty-seven-year-old businessman is the son of Naval Tata, who is also the father of the late Ratan Tata. He has played a pivotal role as he has been closely working with Tata group, including chairman of Trent, Voltas, Tata Investment Corporation and Tata International, as well as vice chairman of Tata Steel and Titan and for years, Noel and his half-brother Ratan Tata had a strained relationship each other as it was evident at instances.

Despite this, Noel Tata was appointed as a trustee of the Sir Ratanji Tata Trust in 2019 and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust in 2022. Noel’s appointment is now significant because whoever leads the Tata Trusts indirectly controls the Tata Sons group, which owns the individual Tata corporations.

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The Tata Sons group is primarily owned by two charitable trusts: the Sir Ratanji Tata Trust and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. These trusts were established in memory of Sir Jamsetji Tata’s sons who willed most of their assets to charity and social welfare.

Following Ratan Tata‘s passing, the line of succession was unclear and many assumed Noel would automatically take over the position. Ratan Tata also did not leave clear instructions on who should inherit his designations and didn’t mention it anywhere.

As per the reports, Ratan Tata also did not personally own shares in Tata Sons to pass on to an heir. It was said that the day-to-day operations of the business are currently managed by Tata Sons chairperson Natarajan Chandrasekaran.

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