Ratan Tata will take a departure from the Chairmanship of Tata Trusts and the next Chairman might not be from the Parsi clan. It is said that the selection process of the new Chairman will start soon and consultants’ advice will be taken in view for the same. The name will be finalised by the mid of 2017.
Chairmanship of Tata Trusts might be forwarded to a non-Parsi
The Tata Trusts control 66% in Tata Sons as it is the holding company of Tata Group companies and till date, its investments amount to $ 41 billion in various Tata companies.
After giving up his Chair, he is unlikely to remain the trustee of the Tata Trusts. Ratan Tata had been alleged of managing the Tata Sons through Tata Trusts’ Chairmanship. In past, it has been observed the Chairmen heading the Tata Sons have also remained head of the Tata Trusts; but when Cyrus Mistry was made the Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012, Ratan Tata kept his Chair at the Tata Trusts. And it was the first time that the two important positions were held by two different Chairpersons.
Ratan Tata’s close aide R Venkataramanan is sought to move abroad where he will manage the personal investments made by Tata amounting to $250 million.
“The next chairman has to be someone who has the right vision and be in complete alignment with the will of the Tata Group founders”, said Tata Trustee Krishna Kumar. He added, “It is very unlikely that it will be a foreign passport holder. The person needs to be an Indian and understand what is good for India.”
Kumar said that they would prefer someone in their 50s or 60s to be the Chairman of Tata Trusts as a person of this age is deemed to render more impact on the Trusts’ functioning as per their understanding. Also, he said that a Parsi may or may not be selected for the Chairmanship of the Trusts. In case a non-Parsi is selected, it would be for the first time in the history.
