Tata Sons Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Wednesday announced his resignation, nearly a decade after taking the helm of one of India\u2019s most storied companies. A career Tata executive, Chandrasekaran, joined TCS in 1987 and rose to CEO of the software arm in 2009. In February 2017, he was appointed as the seventh chairman of Tata Sons.<\/p>\n
Here is the list of others who held the post over the Tata Group\u2019s 158-year history.<\/p>\n
Tata Group, which was founded in 1868, was initially led by its founder, Jamsetji Tata. Jamsetji, who began his career with his father's trading firm, later established Empress Mill, a textile mill in Nagpur, and founded the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, which was India's first hotel to have electricity.<\/p>\n
N Chandrasekaran announced his resignation due to a lack of unanimous support from the board for extending his term, which created uncertainty for the company's future leadership.<\/p>\n
N Chandrasekaran was appointed as the chairman of Tata Sons in January 2017 after previously serving as the CEO of Tata Consultancy Services.<\/p>\n
Before N Chandrasekaran, the chairpersons of Tata Sons included Ratan Tata, Cyrus Mistry, and JRD Tata, among others, with JRD Tata serving the longest term.<\/p>\n
The next chairman of Tata Sons will be selected by a five-member committee, consisting of nominees from the Tata Trusts and the Tata Sons board.<\/p>\n
N Chandrasekaran served as the chairman of Tata Sons for nearly a decade, from January 2017 until his resignation announcement in August 2026.<\/p>\n
Following Jamsetji's death in 1904, his older son, Dorabji Tata, became chairman of the Tata Group. Dorabji is credited with laying the foundation of the Tata Group\u2019s global reach. His most notable contributions include establishing the Tata Iron and Steel Company in 1907, now known as Tata Steel. Dorabji passed away on 3 June 1932, at the age of 73.<\/p>\n
Nowroji Saklatvala, a nephew of Jamsetji Tata, became chairman of the Tata group in 1932, succeeding Dorabji Tata. Nowroji passed away unexpectedly in France in 1938.<\/p>\n
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, better known as JRD Tata, took over as Chairman of the Tata Group following Saklatvala's death in 1938. JRD Tata was at the helm of the conglomerate for the longest term – serving for over 52 years until 1991. JRD Tata was also one of the most consequential leaders of the Tata Group in its over one-and-a-half-century history. It was under RD Tata\u2019s leadership that the Tata Group grew into the conglomerate that it is today. He founded Tata Air Services in 1932, which later became Tata Airlines and, later still, Air India. He also established Tata Motors in 1945, one of the pillars of the Tata Group today and Tata Consultancy Services in 1968.<\/p>\n
JRD Tata stepped down as the Chairman of Tata Sons in 1991, handing over leadership of the conglomerate to Ratan Tata, who built on the foundations his predecessor had laid. He began restructuring the Tata group at a time when the liberalization of the Indian economy was underway. He led the growth and globalization drive with several high-profile Tata acquisitions, among them Tetley, Corus, Jaguar Land Rover, Brunner Mond, General Chemical Industrial Products and Daewoo.<\/p>\n
Ratan Tata stepped down as the Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012. Cyrus Mistry became the 6th Chairman of Tata Sons and only the second non-Tata, after Nowroji Saklatwala, to lead the conglomerate. His family, the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, owns an 18.4% stake in Tata Sons and has deep-running family ties with the Tatas. Despite this, Mistry had a troubled stay at the helm, and in October 2016, the Tata Sons board voted to remove Mistry as Chairman. Ratan Tata returned as the interim Chairman until 2017, when N Chandrasekaran was elevated to the role.<\/p>\n
Natarajan Chandrasekaran took over as Chairman of the Tata Group in February 2017. An engineer by qualification, Chandrasekaran began his career with TCS and went on to become its CEO in 2009. He was also the first \u2018outsider\u2019 with no family ties to Tatas to be made the Chairman of Tata Sons. His second five-year-term as Tata Sons was set to expire in February 2027.<\/p>\n
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