Tata Motors, the country's largest automotive manufacturer, has delegated its current Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons – Cyrus Mistry as its new Chairman of the Board. Mistry is to replace Ratan Tata as the new head of Tata Motors division and will start office from December 28, 2012. Since 1991, Ratan Tata had served as the Chairman of the Indian conglomerate and had stepped down only last month (November 2012).
Regarding the rearrangement of power at the top of management and decision making units of Tata Motors, the company said in a statement, “The Board of Directors of Tata Motors today announced the appointment of Cyrus P. Mistry as the Chairman of the Board with effect from December 28, 2012, on the retirement of Ratan N. Tata.” Further, the Board also conferred Ratan Tata with the honorary and highly esteemed title of 'Chairman Emeritus'.
Cyrus Mistry is 44 years old and is the son of Indian construction magnate Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry. Reportedly, Pallonji is valued at $ 8.8 billion and has an 18.5 per cent stake in Tata Sons, which makes him the single largest shareholder in the country's biggest enterprise. Further, Cyrus is the younger son of Pallonji Mistry and has Rohika Chagla, daughter of lawyer Iqbal Chagla, as his life partner. Shapoor Mistry is Cyrus's elder brother and one of his sisters is the spouse of Noel Tata, Ratan Tata's half-brother.
Since 2006, Cyrus has been serving on the board of Tata Sons - a Tata holding company and was appointed a successor to Ratan Tata in November 2011. As of now, Mistry serves as Deputy Chairman in many Tata owned businesses like Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).
