The Tata that runs Westside.
Noel Tata is in the news as one of the favourites to join the board of Tata Sons, the holding company of all the group’s companies. But who is Noel Tata?
The 63-year-old is the half-brother of Ratan Tata, the former chairman of Tata Sons. While he is a well-known name within the company itself, outsiders have always known his far more famous brother Ratan, who remained the face of the company even after his retirement.
What is the relationship between Noel Tata and Ratan Tata?
Noel Tata is the half-brother of Ratan Tata. Ratan Tata’s father was Naval Tata, who was adopted into the family by Navajbai and Ratanji Tata from an orphanage.
When he was an adult, Naval married Tata Soonoo, with whom he had two sons. He named the younger son Jimmy and the older one Ratan after his father. Sometime in the mid-1940s, Naval and Soonoo separated and about ten years later he married Simone, a Swiss woman he reportedly met on a trip to India.
Noel Tata is the son of Simone and Naval Tata and thus the half-brother of Ratan Tata.
What does Noel Tata do?
Noel Tata may not be in the news as often as his half-brother Ratan Tata, but he plays several important roles in various Tata-owned companies. He is chairman of Tata Investment Corporation, vice-chairman of Titan Industries, managing director of Tata International and chairman of Trent, the company that owns Westside.
Noel Tata is a graduate of the University of Sussex and also participated in the International Executive Programme at the renowned French business school INSEAD. He began his career at Tata International, which is responsible for the Tata Group’s international business.
At the turn of the century, Noel Tata took over Trent, the company founded by his mother Simone. Trent is the parent company of the Westside clothing store. Tata worked to make Trent profitable and was also appointed a director of Titan Industries and Voltas in 2003.
In 2010, Noel Tata became the managing director of Tata International, the company where he had started his career. This was around the time Ratan Tata was due to retire and there was a lot of speculation about who would take over. When Noel Tata was in the news, it was said that he might be Ratan Tata’s successor. However, it was not him but his brother-in-law Cyrus Mistry who got the job. Noel Tata’s wife Aloo Mistry is Cyrus’ sister. And as we know, Cyrus’ father Pallonji Mistry is the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons.
Less than five years later, Cyrus Mistry was sacked as CEO of Tata Sons, leaving the place open for Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the former TCS chief.
Meanwhile, Noel Tata has been working behind the scenes, rising to become vice-chairman of Titan and joining the board of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (named after his father). And if all goes well, he will sit on the board of Tata Sons.
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