Cyrus Mistry named Ratan Tata's successor

Mumbai: Tata Sons chairman Ratan Tata has appointed 43-year-old director of Tata Sons and Tata Elxsi (India) Cyrus Mistry his successor. Mistry will work with Ratan Tata over the next year and take over from him when Tata retires in December 2012.

The board of directors of Tata Sons at its meeting on Wednesday appointed Cyrus P Mistry as deputy chairman.
Endorsing the appointment, Ratan Tata said, "The appointment of Cyrus P Mistry as deputy chairman of Tata Sons is a good and far-sighted choice. He has been on the Board of Tata Sons since August 2006 and I have been impressed with the quality and caliber of his participation, his astute observations and his humility. He is intelligent and qualified to take on the responsibility being offered and I will be committed to working with him over the next year to give him the exposure, the involvement and the operating experience to equip him to undertake the full responsibility of the Group on my retirement."

Mistry, currently managing director of Shapoorji Pallonji Group, has been a director of Tata Sons since August 2006. Born on July 4, 1968, Mr Mistry graduated from the Imperial College, London with a BE in civil engineering. He also holds a masters degree in management from the London Business School, and is a fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Apart from the Tata Group, he also serves as a director on the board of several other companies, including Shapoorji Pallonji & Co, Forbes Gokak, Afcons Infrastructure and United Motors (India).

After his appointment as deputy chairman of Tata Sons, Mistry thanked the selection committee and the Board and said, "I feel deeply honoured by this appointment. I am aware that an enormous responsibility, with a great legacy, has been entrusted to me. I look forward to Mr Tata's guidance in the year ahead in meeting the expectations of the Group. I take this responsibility very seriously and in keeping with the values and ethics of the Tata Group I will undertake to legally dissociate myself from the management of my family businesses to avoid any issue of conflict of interest."

The five-member panel appointed by the Tata Sons board to find a successor to the chairman has seen its mandate evolve over time. Tata Sons had said while forming the committee to find a successor that the group would require someone with experience and exposure to direct its growth amidst the challenges of the global economy.

In May, the group said the selection committee had interviewed several candidates, both internal and external, but no final decision had been taken. Since then, the consensus within has been that the group is not yet ready for an expatriate leader.

According to sources, the panel which has had about six meetings so far in Bombay House has devised a structure within which the new boss would operate as it would be hard for an individual to fill the big shoes of Ratan Tata.

About 66% of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the Tata family. The biggest of these trusts are Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which were created by the families of the sons of Jamsetji Tata.

Various candidates, including Tata's half-brother and son-in-law of Pallonji Mistry, Noel Tata and PepsiCo Chairperson Indra Nooyi were speculated to succeed Tata.

Tata, who took over as Chairman in 1991 from JRD Tata, is responsible for bringing the group to the global map with the acquisitions of Corus Steel and Jaguar Land Rover.