Noel Tata joins Tata Sons board, first family member to serve on both boards since 2011

Noel Tata was appointed to the board of Tata Sons on Friday as a nominee from Tata Trusts. His appointment follows his recent elevation to chairman of Tata Trusts after Ratan Tata’s passing. The resolution for his appointment occurred during a virtual meeting on Diwali eve, as reported by sources familiar with the matter. Notably, Noel Tata is the first family member to serve on both boards simultaneously since 2011. Tata Trusts holds a 66% stake in Tata Sons, making it the largest shareholder.

With Noel Tata’s addition, there are now three nominee directors from Tata Trusts on the Tata Sons board, joining Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh. Together, they form the executive committee that governs Tata Trusts. Tata Sons has not commented on the appointment.

According to Tata Sons’ Articles of Association, the Trusts can nominate one-third of the board’s directors. Currently, the Tata Sons board consists of nine directors, including two executive directors, chairman N Chandrasekaran and Noel Tata, alongside three non-executive directors and four independent directors. Following his appointment, Noel Tata met with Chandrasekaran to establish a positive working relationship.

At 67, Noel Tata previously resigned from executive roles at group companies when he turned 65, which is the mandatory retirement age for executives. However, there is no retirement age for trustees or chairpersons. Experts say there are no legal restrictions preventing him from continuing in non-executive roles.

Noel Tata has led significant growth in the Tata Group’s retail division, Trent, since becoming chairman in April 2014. Under his leadership, Trent’s revenue surged 430%, increasing from ₹2,333 crore in FY14 to ₹12,375 crore in FY24, and turning a loss of ₹19 crore into a profit of ₹1,477 crore. In August 2017, he took the helm at Voltas, where revenue doubled from ₹6,404 crore in FY17 to ₹12,481 crore in FY24, and the stock surged nearly 300%.

In addition to these roles, Noel Tata chairs Tata Investment Corporation, which has seen its stock return 705% over the past five years, significantly outperforming the Nifty index’s 102% return during the same period. His strong leadership across various sectors highlights his influential role within the Tata Group.