Ratan Tata’s successor – Cyrus P Mistry appointed Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons

Ratan Tata’s successor – Cyrus P Mistry appointed Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons

The board of directors of Tata Sons at its meeting today appointed Cyrus P Mistry as Deputy Chairman. He will work with Ratan N Tata over the next year and take over from him when Mr Tata retires in December 2012. This is as per the unanimous recommendation of the selection committee.

Mistry, 43, whose family is the single biggest shareholder of the group will assume the role of deputy chairman and take over as head of the group in December 2012, according to an e- mailed statement from the company yesterday. Tata in August 2010 set up a five-member panel to find a successor to Ratan, who will retire after two decades running the Mumbai-based company.

This brings to an end speculation that for the first time someone from outside the Tata family including an expat could become the head of the firm with multi-billion dollar assets. Earlier, Noel Tata, a half brother of Ratan Tata, was said to be the front runner to take over as the chairman. Incidentally, Noel Tata is married to Cyrus Mistry's sister.

Within retail, Noel has done well to make Trent a profitable operation in a sector where most rivals are reeling under losses. That focus on the bottom line has, however, come at the cost of growth: Trent's growth has been painfully slow -an operation that began in 1998 had consolidated revenues of just Rs 1,600 crore in fiscal 2011. In contrast, the consolidated top line of Kishore Biyani's Pantaloon Retail, which began around the same time, is about six times that of Trent (although that growth has come at a price).