Leadership call amid listing conundrum

When Tata Trusts, the largest shareholder of Tata Sons, recently passed a resolution to extend the term of executive chairman N Chandrasekaran (Chandra, as he's widely known) for another five years, the world took notice.

- NIVEDITA MOOKERJI

There are several reasons for that. The first reason it surprised industry watchers was its timing. Chandra's second term is until February 2027, which is still more than 18 months away. Why did Tata Trusts, which controls around 66 per cent in the holding company of the steel-to-software conglomerate, treat this matter with such urgency and so far ahead of time?

Was there anything similar when Chandra got a second term as executive chairman of Tata Sons in 2022? Not quite. On February 11, 2022, the Tata Sons board of directors reportedly reviewed the first five years of his tenure before reappointing him for another term. Ratan Tata, then chairman of Tata Trusts and chairman emeritus of the Tata Group, attended that Tata Sons board meeting as a "special invitee", and recommended the renewal of Chandra's term for another five years. This happened just about 10 days before Chandra's first term was to end. It seemed like business as usual. No Tata Trusts resolution preceded Chandra's reappointment at that point.