When Cyrus Met His Moment

MY FRIEND, MY EX-BOSS, the Chairman of Tata (2013-2016) is hopefully in a better place. A transformative leader, thorough gentleman, and loyal friend. Perhaps, in these strengths, lay his weaknesses.

- 

Our initial deep dive into the Tata group in 2013 led us to uncover the enormous challenges we inherited. Five, what Cyrus designated as “hotspots”, required urgent attention to effectively turnaround the group. The telecom business, Tata Steel UK operations, and the Indian passenger vehicle business were haemorrhaging, with no line of sight to profitability. Tata Power (Mundra project) and Indian Hotels were suffering from large amount of capital being deployed in suboptimal assets. This made the group precariously dependent on the two cash cows of TCS and JLR. By 31 March 2015, the total capital employed in the five hotspots was Rs 1,96,000 crore compared to a group net worth of Rs 1,74,000 crore. A realistic assessment of the fair value of the hotspot businesses would lead to write down of around Rs 1,18,000 crore. If one removed the TCS and JLR, with a combined net worth of around Rs 1,00,000 crore, the group’s remaining net worth turned negative.

A Transformative Leader