Tata's ~ P.J. Alexander

"JRD: Forgotten Tata Titan"

 As India mourned the demise of Ratan Naval Tata, speculation was rife about who would succeed him as Chairman of Tata Trusts, with some even (wildly?) claiming that his young friend Shantanu Naidu would take over the reins of nonsectarian philanthropic "Sir Dorabji and Sir Ratan Tata Trusts" which had for nearly a century been run by a series of very distinguished Trustees ... Nani Palkiwalla,  John Mathai, Prof Choksi, Sir Homi Mody and Tata family members..  

The Tata Trusts funded the Indian Institute of Science(Bangalore),  Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Tata Memorial Hospital, National Institute for Performing Arts, and Dr MS Swaminathan Research  Foundation(Chenai). The Trusts also supported students across disciplines.(In the late 1940s, my father, Dr J Alexander, was funded for his Physics PhD and KR Narayanan his programme at LSE, London. As a student in the 1960s, I was privileged to receive a scholarship from Sir Dorabji Tata Trust which was then managed by very interactive and supportive Mrs Vesugar and Dinshaw Malegamwala).

What was forgotten in the commotion following Ratan Tata's demise, was the key role that JRD Tata had played in the growth and consolidation of the "Salt to Software Tata conglomerate" from  1931 until he demitted office, 60 years later. Son of founder Jamsetji Tata's Paris-based cousin D R Tata and his French wife, JRD was a French citizen (who even served in the French Army) until he came to India to assist and support Jamsetji's sons Sir Dorab & Sir Ratan, who were both married but childless childless, in running the already vast Tata empire. Most of my generation knew( or at least knew about) JRD.

Lacking heirs, Sir Dorab and Lady Tata, also formally adopted 13 year old Naval from an orphanage. Ratan Tata, who passed away at 86,  and Jimmy ( the billionaire who lives a simple life, largely unconnected with business) are the sons of Naval and his Parsi first wife. Noel their half-brother, was born in 1956 to Naval and his French (second) wife, Simone, who later successfully headed cosmetic firm "Lakme" (a spinoff from Tata Oil Mills) till it was sold to HUL for Rs 200 crores. The proceeds of this sale funded TRENT, which under Simone and hrr UK-educated son Noel, grew steadily with Westside, ZUDIO, Zara, Star Bazaar, Landmark Books ..

Meanwhile, in 1991, JRD Tata nominated Noel's older half brother Ratan as Chairman of the Tata Trusts and Tata Sons which controlled the $160 bn Tata empire through shareholding. Ratan had to overcame a strong challenge from the Tata satraps .. Russi Mody (TISCO), Ajit Kerkar (Taj Hotels) Darbari Seth( Tata Chemicals), FC Kohli (TCS).. before he could effectively take control of Tata Sons, the group's holding company. He was innovative and bold and even  ventured abroad through TISCO and Tata Motors/JLR. His Indica car  was a hit with taxi drivers  but his brainchild Nano, was targeted for exceeding the projected Rs 1 lakh cost and its lack of frills. (But Jaya who owned a Nano for a decade,  found it perfect for city driving and ... parking).

Though still hale and hearty, Ratan Tata relinquished Chairmanship of Tata Sons in 2012, on attaining the age of 75, but continued as Chairman of Tata Trusts which controlled Tata Sons through 66% shareholding. His choice for heading Tata Sons was Cyrus Mistry, UK -educated scion of the uber rich Shapoorji Pallonji family which owned 18% of Tata Sons. Sadly, Cyrus and Ratan soon disagreed on several matters, including whether to continue with production and sale of the Nano car,  ... interestingly we saw many Nanos plying  in Srilanka in 2011. Matters got really complicated, not only because of the complex shareholding pattern of Tata Sons, but even more because the two were related in multiple ways, including Cyrus' sister Aloo being  married to Ratan's half brother (and obvious heir?) Noel. After a lengthy legal battle,  Cyrus' ouster from Tata Sons was deemed illegal by NCLAT, but this decision was finally overturned in the Supreme Court. Sadly, Cyrus was killed in a horrendous car crash in 2022, while he and cousins/friends were returning to Mumbai from a visit to the iconic 12 centuries old Udwada Fire Temple, set up when the Zoroastrian Parsis first came to India as refugees from Persia( Iran). 

(The community prospered and contributed immensely to their adopted country:. 

Dadabhai Naoroji & Phirozesha Mehta were leaders in our Freedom Movement;

Tatas, Wadias, Godrej, Petit, were prominent in business and philanthropy;

Polly Umrigar, Nari Contractor, Farouk Engineers played Test Cricket for India;

Zubin Mehta, Freddie Mercury were stars in the Music field;

Homi Bhabha led India's progress in Atomic Energy;

Education was also a chosen area for the Parsis.

The list is long.

 Though Parsi numbers have dwindled, those who are still in India continue to make a massive contribution.)

TCS' competent CEO, N Chandrasekaran, was handpicked by Ratan as Chairman of Tata Sons but the latest development, that is the ascension of Noel Tata as Chairman of Tata Trusts, changes everything by conferring him with direct control of 66% Tata Sons shares  ... plus 18% indirectly, through his wife Aloo Mistry's family! Will he allow Chandrasekaran to continue to be Chairman of Tata Sons and control all the Tata group companies? Though similar in many ways, 67 year old UK- educated Noel is considered more cautious than the late (US-educated) Ratan Tata, who often took very bold "out of the box" decisions ( considered  rash by his detractors).

Noel is also fortunate in having 3 grownup children ( Leah, Maya, Neville) to help and eventually succeed him.

  All power to him! The success of the House of Tata will positively help India to rise in every field ... and you  can be sure that they will give back to us much more than they take. Unlike some other uber "nouveau riche" groups?

J P Alexander

I heard the story of Blending with Milk and Sugar , Parsis with Indian culture, when they left Iran ,The Indian king 

Cyrus Mistry was supposed to continue as the chairman until 2037.Before the can of worms could come out, he was shunted as the chairman.

Ratan didn't want to designate his step brother Noel to succeed him as Chairman of Tata Trusts. Especially after the nasty imbroglia with Cyrus Mistry, who was Noel's wife's brother.

I have interacted with JRD and Tata Trustees of the 1960s, but haven't met Ratan Tata whose official announcement as heir to JRD was long delayed by the latter.. But JRD who was a perfect gentleman, realised that uncertainty could impact the future of Tatas. And in 1991,at age 87, he finally nominated Ratan eldest son of Naval, based on the principle of primogeniture.

Ratan, when he relinquished the Chairmanship of Tata Sons in 2012, initially gave it to Cyrus Mistry scion of the largest private shareholders and then to N Chandrasekaran CEO of TCS. Fortunately, as per rules, Tata Trusts Chairmanship was not his to give to any outsider,  ... least of all to his young friend Shantanu Naidu. Inevitably, Noel, a Tata family member was the only choice for the Trustees.as Chairnan of the Trusts.

All the ingredients for a plot like Sidney Sheldon's "Bloodline"?Especially after the "accidental" death of Cyrus Mistry, whom brother in law Noel would certainly have put back as Chairman of Tata Sons!

It's interesting that 5 generations of Shantanu's family has worked for Tata's.

I feel that JRD was a much better business leader & decision maker than Ratan Tata.much of his acquisitions like corus,tetly & JLR were done at much higher value & has not given the returns to the group.nano& other brands like Indica has practically no takers now.nexon & ev’s gave some impetus to tata motors but shares have come down below 1000 now as ev’s batteries have to be replaced after 5/6 years for which tatas have no economical solution.Cyrus mistry would have lead tatas to a brighter future had Ratan not intervened.tcs has become the flagship company now& has given me better returns than any other Tata shares.it was JRD& kohli who conceived the idea of TCS 50 years ago& deserves all appreciation. F.C.Kohli was the first chief of TCS

His pushing Cyrus Mistry out according to some was unwarranted.  Yeah, the 48 Laws of Power. You have outlined all his errors here.  As a country we just tend to go overboard as witnessed in this post-RT hagiology.In future, one may see Tata Motors getting merged with Toyota India.