Mumbai: The late Ratan Tata named lawyer Darius Khambata and close friend and associate Mehli Mistry as executors of his will, along with half-sisters Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, according to executives with knowledge of the matter.
Tata died on October 9 at the age of 86, with half-brother Noel Tata succeeding him as Tata Trusts chairman.
Ratan Tata held a 0.83% stake in Tata Sons and had a net worth of Rs 7,900 crore, according to the Hurun India Rich List 2024. He was always keen that a significant portion of his wealth go to charity and the welfare of society.
Nearly three-fourths of his wealth is tied to his shareholding in Tata Sons. In addition, Tata invested in nearly two dozen companies including Ola, Paytm, Tracxn, FirstCry, BlueStone, CarDekho, CashKaro, Urban Company and Upstox, although he had exited a few. Besides his Mumbai residence in Colaba, he had a holiday home at Alibaug, on the shores of the Arabian Sea.
The details of Tata’s will are private.
Mehli Mistry was a confidante of Ratan Tata and a trustee on the board of the two main Tata charities, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which together hold around 52% in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. The Tata Trusts collectively hold a 66% stake in Tata Sons.
The market value of Tata Sons’ stake in the group’s listed entities is about Rs 16.71 lakh crore.
Mistry and Khambata were not reachable for comment and neither were the Jejeebhoys. The Jejeebhoy sisters are daughters of Ratan Tata’s mother Soonoo from her second marriage to Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy.
The sisters have always been involved in philanthropy. Deanna had been a trustee on the board of the Ratan Tata Trust in the 1990s and early 2000s. The late Ratan Tata was known to be close to his much younger sisters, said an ex-Tata executive.
Advocate Khambata is understood to have helped Ratan Tata draft his will, said an executive aware of the matter. He returned last year as a trustee at the two primary trusts after a hiatus of almost seven years. He had quit the trusts in 2016 citing professional commitments.
The executor of a will is required to fulfill the last wishes of the deceased, keeping in mind the applicable laws.
Ashish Kumar Singh, partner at Capstone Legal, said: “It is also a settled principle of law that until the will is not executed, the executors have the responsibility to maintain the assets in the same manner as the deceased person would have, if they would have been alive,” Singh said.
“Generally, the deceased person places the executor in a position to dispose of any assets which are not specifically mentioned in the will as per their discretion but if no such specific mention is done, then the assets are divided as per personal law of the deceased person.”
RNT Associates Pvt Ltd, Ratan Tata’s personal investment vehicle, held investments worth Rs 186 crore until FY23. These are pegged at the original cost of acquisition and not current market value, which could have risen since. Mistry and Ratan Tata were the only two board members of RNT Associates.
A first cousin of the late Cyrus Mistry, Mehli Mistry consistently backed Ratan Tata in the row over the former’s ouster as Tata Sons chairman. He was also involved in caring for Ratan Tata in recent years, when the latter wasn’t in good health.
In October 2022, Mistry was inducted on the boards of two of the largest Tata Trusts.
He’s on the board of over a dozen companies of the M Pallonji Group, which is engaged in paints, dredging operations, logistics, shipping, finance, auto dealerships and life insurance.
He is also on the board of Breach Candy Hospital, the Advanced Veterinary Care Foundation and the Tata Indian Institute of Social Skills.
Tata died on October 9 at the age of 86, with half-brother Noel Tata succeeding him as Tata Trusts chairman.
Ratan Tata held a 0.83% stake in Tata Sons and had a net worth of Rs 7,900 crore, according to the Hurun India Rich List 2024. He was always keen that a significant portion of his wealth go to charity and the welfare of society.
Nearly three-fourths of his wealth is tied to his shareholding in Tata Sons. In addition, Tata invested in nearly two dozen companies including Ola, Paytm, Tracxn, FirstCry, BlueStone, CarDekho, CashKaro, Urban Company and Upstox, although he had exited a few. Besides his Mumbai residence in Colaba, he had a holiday home at Alibaug, on the shores of the Arabian Sea.
The details of Tata’s will are private.
Mehli Mistry was a confidante of Ratan Tata and a trustee on the board of the two main Tata charities, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which together hold around 52% in Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group. The Tata Trusts collectively hold a 66% stake in Tata Sons.
The market value of Tata Sons’ stake in the group’s listed entities is about Rs 16.71 lakh crore.
Mistry and Khambata were not reachable for comment and neither were the Jejeebhoys. The Jejeebhoy sisters are daughters of Ratan Tata’s mother Soonoo from her second marriage to Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy.
The sisters have always been involved in philanthropy. Deanna had been a trustee on the board of the Ratan Tata Trust in the 1990s and early 2000s. The late Ratan Tata was known to be close to his much younger sisters, said an ex-Tata executive.
Advocate Khambata is understood to have helped Ratan Tata draft his will, said an executive aware of the matter. He returned last year as a trustee at the two primary trusts after a hiatus of almost seven years. He had quit the trusts in 2016 citing professional commitments.
The executor of a will is required to fulfill the last wishes of the deceased, keeping in mind the applicable laws.
Ashish Kumar Singh, partner at Capstone Legal, said: “It is also a settled principle of law that until the will is not executed, the executors have the responsibility to maintain the assets in the same manner as the deceased person would have, if they would have been alive,” Singh said.
“Generally, the deceased person places the executor in a position to dispose of any assets which are not specifically mentioned in the will as per their discretion but if no such specific mention is done, then the assets are divided as per personal law of the deceased person.”
RNT Associates Pvt Ltd, Ratan Tata’s personal investment vehicle, held investments worth Rs 186 crore until FY23. These are pegged at the original cost of acquisition and not current market value, which could have risen since. Mistry and Ratan Tata were the only two board members of RNT Associates.
A first cousin of the late Cyrus Mistry, Mehli Mistry consistently backed Ratan Tata in the row over the former’s ouster as Tata Sons chairman. He was also involved in caring for Ratan Tata in recent years, when the latter wasn’t in good health.
In October 2022, Mistry was inducted on the boards of two of the largest Tata Trusts.
He’s on the board of over a dozen companies of the M Pallonji Group, which is engaged in paints, dredging operations, logistics, shipping, finance, auto dealerships and life insurance.
He is also on the board of Breach Candy Hospital, the Advanced Veterinary Care Foundation and the Tata Indian Institute of Social Skills.
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