Ratan Tata felt his half-brother Noel Tata lacked the experience and exposure required to succeed him as the chairman of Tata Sons – the holding company which runs the Tata Group.
Ratan Tata, the late Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, did not want his half-brother Noel Tata to succeed him as he felt that Noel needed more experience and exposure in handling difficult assignments before he could head Tata Sons- the principal holding company which runs the Tata Group.
The revelation was made in Ratan Tata: A Life, released Friday by HarperCollins India, a biography of the veteran industrialist authored by Thomas Mathew.
Noel needed more exposure
According to the book, Ratan Tata regretted his decision to staying away from the a selection committee tasked with finding his successor despite many wanting him to be a part of it.
“Perhaps, if Noel had had the experience of handling difficult assignments, he could have established his credentials more forcefully,” Ratan Tata was quoted as saying. More importantly, Noel Tata could have had the opportunity to demonstrate the ‘courage and enterprise’ that JRD had identified as a prerequisite to be appointed as the Tata group chairman.
“For Noel to compete successfully for the top post ‘he should have greater exposure than he has had,” said Ratan Tata. “Partly, his not having it has been his own choice.”
The book, citing an interview with The Times, noted that Ratan Tata had stated that he ‘rose up through the business’ and asserted that even if he had a son, he would have done something to not have his son automatically become his successor.
Noel Tata, recently appointed as the Chairman of Tata Trusts — a collective of charities that indirectly controls the $ 165-billion conglomerate — after the death of Ratan Tata, was among several candidates interviewed in March 2011 when a search for his successor was underway. The role ultimately went Cyrus Mistry, a decision which eventually irked Ratan Tata whose feud with Mistry is well documented.
Why Ratan Tata stayed away from selection panel?
The book reveals several reasons Ratan Tata stayed aloof the from the selection panel, one of which is that there were many aspirants from within the Tata Group, and he “wanted to give the contenders the comfort and confidence of knowing that a collective body of equals would recommend one of them based on a unanimous decision, or if not by a majority, and not on account of the Chairman’s preference”.
Another reason was more personal as there prevailed an “overwhelming view that his half-brother Noel Tata was the ‘default candidate’ to succeed him” amid a push from the Parsis in the company and the traditionalists in the community as they considered him to be one of them.
However, Ratan Tata believed that only “the talent and the values of the person mattered”, and religion, community or the region of the contender were non-relevant, according to the biography.
The book further reveals that Ratan Tata was even open to considering foreigners, if they possessed the necessary qualifications, and had made it clear that he should not be seen as steering the selection committee or ‘pushing it in one direction or the other’. Even in the event of Noel Tata not being selected, Ratan Tata did not want to be seen as ‘anti-Noel’, it stated.
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