Mumbai Lawyer Darius Khambata, Half-sister Are Executor Of Ratan Tata's Will

Late Ratan Tata has named lawyer Darius Khambata and close friend and associate Mehli Mistry as executors of his will, along with half-sisters Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, sources said. Tata, who passed away on October 9 at the age of 86, is succeeded by his half-brother Noel Tata as chairman of Tata Trusts. Also, Tata's half brother Noel Tata cannot be on the board of Tata Sons and Tata Trusts together, as Ratan Tata had created a structure where the Tata Trusts and Tata Sons was supposed to have a different board for governance.

Mehli Mistry, a first cousin of the late Cyrus Mistry, was a confidante of Ratan Tata and involved in taking care of him for the past few years. In 2022, he was appointed as a trustee on the board of the two main Tata charities, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust. These two trusts own around 52 percent in Tata Sons, the private holding company of all major Tata group companies. The largest shareholder of Tata Sons, which controls the entire Tata Group, is Sir Dorabji Tata Trust. This trust owns a 27.98 percent stake in Tata Sons. Sir Ratan Tata Trust is the second largest shareholder in Tata Sons with 23.56 percent stake.

Sterling Investment Corporation and Cyrus Investments Private Limited each hold almost 9.19 percent stake in the holding company of Tata Group. JRD Tata Trust holds 4.01 percent stake in Tata Sons. Tata Education Trust and Tata Social Welfare Trust both hold 3.73 percent stake each. RD Tata Trust and Sarvajanik Seva Trust hold 2.19 percent and 0.10 percent stake in Tata Sons respectively.

In the boardroom battle between Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry, lawyer Khambata was the mediator. Tata wanted to convince Mistry to quit from all Tata group companies, without any acrimony or public debate. In 201, Khambata, the former advocate general of Maharashtra, was a trustee on Tata Trusts board.

There are clear demarcation of roles between all the Tata Trusts that collectively own the group. The most important demarcation established by Ratan Tata in 2022 was ensuring Trusts and the holding company will have separate board governance structures. There can be an overlap of board members, but both will not have the same Chairman. Tata Trusts—the corporate structure assigned to manage the daily functions of all trusts—have clear philanthropic roles, while Tata Sons has been assigned to incubate companies in the new sectors and govern all its companies and safeguard stakeholder interests. Hence, Noel Tata cannot hold the Chairman seat at Tata Trusts and Tata Sons together. In 2017 Tata Sons was converted into a private limited company after Cyrus Mistry was removed from the Tata Sons board.