Bengaluru and Mumbai: Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), the largest shareholder of Tata Sons and one of the two principal Tata Trusts, has begun the process of finding a successor to Tata Sons chair N Chandrasekaran.
“The Trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust have passed a resolution to initiate the setting up of a Selection Committee as soon as possible in accordance with the Articles of Association of Tata Sons, for the purpose of recommending a person for appointment as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors,” SDTT said in a statement on Thursday. “We extend our full support to Tata Sons in ensuring a smooth, timely and orderly transition of leadership, consistent with the values and long-term interests of Tata Sons and the Tata group.”
SDTT, with a 27.98% stake, and Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), with a 23.56% holding, are the two principal philanthropic entities that own the majority of Tata Sons.
Under Tata Sons’ articles of association, the next chairman will be appointed by a five-member selection committee. Three members are jointly nominated by SDTT and SRTT, one by the Tata Sons board and one independent member is selected by Tata Sons. The chairman of the selection committee is chosen by SDTT and SRTT from among their three nominees.
Chandrasekaran wrote to the six-member board of Tata Sons on Wednesday morning, stating that he would not seek a third term, which would have started on 21 February next year. Chandrasekaran, who was first appointed in February 2017 and served a second term starting in 2022, said his reappointment resolution, brought before the board of Tata Sons on 24 February, was opposed by Tata Trusts Chair and Tata Sons board member Noel Tata.
“My current tenure as the Chairman of Tata Sons comes to an end on Feb 20, 2027. Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust had unanimously resolved and recommended the extension of my next term for a period of five years, which was recorded and recommended by the Tata Sons Nomination and Remuneration Committee and the Board,” Chandrasekaran wrote in his letter on Wednesday. “Subsequently, the resolution was tabled in the Tata Sons Board on Feb 24, 2026. However, the proposal was not carried through because one of the Board Members did not support it, and in the absence of unanimous support, I chose to defer the decision.”
The Tata Trusts thanked Chandrasekaran for his contribution to the Tata Group.
“The Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) respects Mr. Chandrasekaran’s decision not to offer himself for reappointment,” SDTT said in its statement. “We place on record our deepest appreciation for his contribution and stewardship of Tata Sons and the Tata group over the past decade. We thank him for his immense contribution during a period of significant change, growth and transformation across the Group.”
SRTT and SDTT together control 51.4% of Tata Sons, while the wider Tata Trusts own 65.9% of the Tata Group holding company.
However, it is unclear how the selection of the committee to appoint the next chairman of Tata Sons would begin, given that a Maharashtra Charity Commissioner order currently prevents SRTT from holding board meetings or making decisions affecting its composition.
Besides Noel Tata, his son Neville Noel Tata and former Titan Company CEO Bhaskar Bhat, SDTT counts TVS Motor Corp chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan and Mumbai-based lawyer Darius Khambata as part of the six trustees.
After the former defence secretary Vijay Singh stepped down from the board of SRTT earlier this week, the six trustees include Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan; Ratan Tata’s younger brother, Jimmy Tata; Khambata; and Pune-based businessman and philanthropist Jehangir H.C. Jehangir.
Varun Sood has been a business journalist writing on corporate affairs for the past 17 years. He currently oversees corporate coverage, including information technology (IT) services, aviation, auto, metals and mining, and conglomerates at Mint. He started as a reporter at Business Standard in 2005, after a short internship at the Economic and Political Weekly. Having worked across newsrooms in Delhi and Mumbai, including at DNA, the Financial Times, and the Economic Times, he is now based in Bengaluru. He is most proud of his work over the last decade at Mint, including writing about the rise and fall of some CEOs at Infosys, TCS, Cognizant, and Wipro. His first book, “Azim Premji: The Man Beyond the Billions”, was published by HarperCollins in October 2020. These days, he is spending more time reading annual reports and analysts' transcripts. Varun’s two pet peeves are access journalism and the dying art of interviews with business leaders. If you think there is something wrong inside your company or there are problems with corporate governance that you'd like to highlight, email him at varun.sood@livemint.com.
Satish John serves as the Managing Editor at Mint, bringing over 30 years of experience in business journalism. He began his career in 1996 as a reporter at the Telegraph after a brief stint in the corporate sector. During his three decades of journalism, Satish has written on almost all sectors, including conglomerates, power, metals and mining, aviation and auto. Before joining Mint in 2022 (this is his second stint with the paper after earlier working from 2008 to 2011), Satish worked at The Economic Times and DNA. At Mint, Satish oversees the corporate, banking and markets coverage. One of his key roles is to manage news reporting teams and ensure their coordination across cities. The other important role he plays is in helping the paper get big news scoops and stories. His colleagues say he is a great raconteur and always has some interesting stories about promoters and companies. These days, Satish is exploring podcasts and AI tools to better tell stories and reach a wider audience. Inside the newsroom, reporters and editors continue to ideate with Satish to better their stories.
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