1. 1
Cyraus Mistry the new
Chairman Of Tata Sons
Subject : EEB
12/14/2011
Surabhi Agarwal

2. Being Cyrus: genX in the driver’s seat
On the face of it, there is a lot that differentiates the incumbent from the
successor — Ratan Naval Tata and Cyrus Pallonji Mistry. Tata was 54 in
1991, Mistry will be 44 in 2012-13 when he takes over the mantle at the
Bombay House.
If not for the Tata group, Ratan Tata already
had an offer from IBM at his disposal back in 1964, which he refused at
the behest of a certain Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata.
Mistry joined the board of Shapoorji Pallonji & Co — a firm his
grandfather founded — as director in 1991, the same year Tata took
over as the chairman of Tata Sons.
Three years later Mistry was appointed the managing director of the
Shapoorji Pallonji Group in 1994.
Tata assumed the leadership role more by circumstance, rather than
choice, while Mistry, many say, grew into the role.
Tata loves going out for long walks with his dogs. Mistry loves horse-
riding and is an avid
golfer.
Yet, Mistry is
considered more of an
“insider” in the Tata
Group.
“I have been impressed
with the quality and
calibre of his
participation, his astute
observations and his
humility,” Tata was
quoted as saying in a
statement on Wednesday.
“He is intelligent and qualified to take on the responsibility being offered,”
Tata added.

3. “I’m surprised, yes, but at the end of the day he is not controversial,
given his position as the largest shareholder,” said AM Naik, chairman of
engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro.
Mistry, 43, is a graduate of civil engineering from Imperial College, UK
(1990) and has a M.Sc. in Management from London Business School.
Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s recent foray into agriculture & bio fuels, with
the leasing of 50,000 hectares in Ethiopia, was overseen by Cyrus
Mistry.
Cyrus joined the Board of Tata Sons in 2006. He has been a director of
Tata Power and Tata Elxsi in the past. Mistry’s grandfather first bought
shares in Tata Sons in the 1930s, which currently stands at 18.5%
making his father Pallonji Mistry, the largest single shareholder in a
conglomerate largely controlled by trusts.
The chairman-designate, who stepped down as managing director from
the Shapoorji Pallonji group to avoid conflict of interest, will be
responsible for leading a group that boasts of revenues of more than
$83 billion (Rs 4349.2 crore).
Mistry, like Ratan Tata, has remained steadfastly away from the limelight
for much of his career — neither attending the in-house parties nor the
out-house social dos, said an executive of a Tata firm, who did not wish
to be identified.
What lies ahead for the man who hands over
baton?
After growing revenues more than 25 times since he took charge in
1991, Ratan N Tata is going through the pace to hand over the reins in
13 months. Even as he would work with Cyrus P Mistry to ensure a
smooth transition, speculation abounds about Ratan Tata’s future role
within the Tata
Group.
While a Tata Sons spokesperson said that he will “completely retire from
the group, as stated, with no executive or non-executive role assigned to
him.”
That explanation, however, may find few takers. For one, Tata appears
to have acquired a larger than life stature within the group. For another,

4. he will continue to head the two trusts — Ratan Tata Trust and Dorab
Tata Trust — that together control 66% of the equity of Tata Sons, which
in turn is the holding company of Tata Group.
According to the Tata Sons spokesperson, the trust constitution
mandates that the trust chairmen occupy the position for life.
“It was a similar situation in 1991 when Ratan Tata took over as
chairman of Tata Sons and J R D Tata remained chairman of the trusts,”
said the company spokesperson, adding that it is not necessary that the
Tata Sons chairman will end up becoming the chairman of the Trusts
after Ratan Tata retires.
Industry watchers say Tata’s role in the group after December 2012,
when he retires, is as yet unclear.
“For next one year he continues to be the chairman. We don’t know yet
what future role he is going to take. It is too early to take a call on it,”
said SP Tulsian, an independent analyst.
Ratan Tata has been the chairman of Tata Sons, the promoter holding
company of the Tata group, since 1991. He is also the chairman of the
major Tata companies, including Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata
Consultancy Services, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages, Tata
Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. During his tenure, the
group’s revenues have grown manifold, totalling over $83 billion
(R4,349.2 crore) in 2010-11.
The great grandson of Jamsetji Tata, the group’s founder, Ratan Tata,
joined the group in December 1962, after turning down an offer from IBM
on the advice of JRD Tata.
He used to earlier work at the Tata Steel’s Jamshedpur steel plant with
other blue collar employees at the blast furnace.
After serving in various companies, he was appointed director-in-charge
of the National Radio and Electronics Company in 1971. In 1981, he was
named chairman of Tata Industries, the group’s other promoter holding
company, where he was responsible for transforming it into a group
strategy think-tank, and a promoter of new ventures in high technology
businesses.

5. Noel Tata: the insider who did not make it
Both — Ratan Naval Tata or RNT to friends and peers, and his half-
brother Noel Naval Tata — belong to the same family, the House of the
Tatas. Both are introvert and extremely reclusive. And both have cut
their teeth in as young executives and risen through the ranks.
member search committee sprang a surprise by choosing 43-year-old
Cyrus P Mistry, Noel’s brother-in-law as Rata Tata’s heir designate.
Insiders to the house of Tatas say Noel was always the outsider. A top-
ranking executive with a prominent Tata company back in 2006 had
rubbished any speculation of Noel taking over from RNT.
Though Noel has been around since 1997, he was not on the radar even
when he became a director at Titan and Voltas in 2003. It was only in
2008 that this executive heard his name uttered for the first time in the
board rooms of the Bombay House. And that name stayed on until on
Wednesday, Mistry, Noel’s brother-in-law, was announced to succeed
RNT.
Noel, 54, is married to Aloo Mistry, daughter of Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry,
the single largest shareholder in Tata Sons outside of the trusts. What
has come as a surprise is that though he himself chooses to stay in the
background, Noel’s career graph within the group has soared, and
therefore was the heir-apparent.
He began his career with Tata International, when he took over as the
managing director of the company along with being appointed as the
chairman of Tata Investments in June last year.
He also holds the position of non-executive vice-chairman at Trent and
remains on the boards of group companies Titan and Voltas.
“Look at the constitution of the selection panel. It has at least two
candidates who may have had hidden ambitions of becoming chairman
themselves,” said a prominent industry leader who did not wish to be
identified.