The 67-year-old is the son of Mr Naval Tata, who was also Ratan’s father, and Ms Simone Tata. Already on the boards of the key Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, the patriarch’s half-brother is the frontrunner to succeed him.
Since 2014, he has been the chairman for Trent, the conglomerate’s massively successful apparel retailer, whose shares have surged more than 6,000 per cent in the past decade and has been a runaway success in the domestic fast fashion sector.
Trent, which has been expanding store count and workforce even as peers cut jobs, has been one of the most successful Tata companies in recent years. Mr Noel Tata previously helmed Tata International from 2010 to 2021, during which the commodity trading firm’s revenue jumped from US$500 million to over US$3 billion.
He’s also on the boards of several listed Tata firms, including Tata Steel and Voltas. His children – Maya, Neville and Leah – are also trustees of some of the family-linked charities, according to the Tata Trusts website.
Mehli Mistry
Like Mr Noel Tata, Mr Mistry is a board trustee for the two main Tata charities and was seen as a close confidante of Mr Ratan Tata. Along with Mr Srinivasan and Mr Singh, Mr Mistry is part of the executive committee that oversees the functioning of Tata Trusts.
He is a director of the Meher Pallonji Group that has business interests in industrial painting, dredging, stevedoring, logistics solutions, shipping, finance and automobile dealerships, among others.
Besides having long-running business relations with the Tata Group, Mr Mistry is the estranged first cousin of Mr Cyrus Mistry, according to a local media report.
Darius Khambata
A senior lawyer who advised Mr Ratan Tata on succession matters, Mr Khambata is also a board trustee. He continues to