Noel Tata Appointed Chairman of Tata Trusts Following Ratan Tata’s Legacy: Report
Noel’s appointment is important as Tata Trusts own 66% of Tata Sons, the holding company of all the companies under the Tata brand which is over 150 years old.

Noel Tata Chairman Tata Trusts
Noel Tata Appointed Chairman of Tata Trusts: Noel Tata has been appointed as the chairman of Tata Trusts on Friday (11th October) after his half brother Ratan passed away earlier this week at the age of 86, as per CNBC TV18.
Noel’s appointment is important as Tata Trusts own 66% of Tata Sons, the holding company of all the companies under the Tata brand which is over 150 years old. Noel who was appointed as the head of Tata Trusts on Friday said, he will carry on the legacy of Mr. Ratan N. Tata and the founders of the Tata Group.
Ratan Tata never married, had no children and did not name a successor at Tata Trusts.
With Friday’s appointment, Noel has got indirect control of the $165 billion company.
Also Read: Ranveer Brar Remembers Working with Ratan Tata: ‘He Was the Least Fussy Person I’ve Seen’
Ratan Tata was one of India’s most respected corporate leaders and built the Tata empire into a global conglomerate across industries.
He was chairman of the autos to steel conglomerate for over 20 years and was responsible for all the foreign acquisitions during his tenure.
Tata Trusts was set up by Noel and Ratan’s great grandfather Jamsetji Tata in 1892, years after he founded the Tata group. Tata Trusts has since diversified into education, healthcare and housing.
Noel Naval Tata is already a trustee on the board of Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. He is also the chairman of Tata Trent and vice chairman of Tata Steel.
The decision was wanted by “many old timers” in the group, said a Tata executive to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The parent company Tata Sons has 30 companies across consumer goods, hotels, autos and airlines and has become a global giant over the years with brands like Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea under its umbrella.
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It has Tata Consultancy Services, Taj Hotels and Air India and has Starbucks and Airbus as partners in India.
Noel’s journey:
- Tata group was set up in 1868 by Ratan’s great grandfather Jamsetji Tata. A few years later Jamsetji started philanthropic work which has since expanded to education, healthcare and sports through many of the trusts in the philanthropic arm.
- Ratan Tata joined the family firm in 1962 and became the chairman of Tata Sons in 1991 and took the group to new heights while being an extremely shy and soft spoken executive with razor sharp business acumen.
- Noel Tata is a Sussex University graduate and has been with the group for over 40 years. He is on the board of many Tata companies.
- As the managing director of Tata International, Noel grew the trading arm from $500 million to over $3 billion, according to Tata Group website.
- The Tatas are from the tiny Parsi community which has given India some of its biggest business houses, top nuclear scientists, world class musicians and senior military officers.
- Parsis follow the Zoroastrian faith, an ancient pre Islamic religion of Iran. Some of its principles like charity and doing good to others has been part of the Tata heritage and business philosophy for long.
- Most of the dividend paid out by Tata Sons goes into charitable trusts involved in philanthropic work.
- Though the trusts’ control over the group is not visible most of the time, the most visible example was in 2016 when Ratan Tata had a falling out with Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry and he was removed.
- Mistry, another Parsi billionaire whose family has a stake of about 18% in Tata Sons, died in a car accident in 2022.
- One of his former advisors told Reuters this week that the Tata Trusts “without a doubt” have more power over Tata Sons than anyone else, “they work behind a veil”.
- Noel is an Irish citizen married to Mistry's sister.
Also Read: Rajinikanth Bows Down to Ratan Tata in Heartfelt Tribute: ‘True Son of India’
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