N Chandrasekaran was reappointment as the chairman of Tata Sons - the holding company of the Tata Group - for a second five-year term. His reappointment was backed by Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Trusts, the majority owners of Tata Sons. Tata Sons board met recently to review the last five years and consider the reappointment Chandrasekaran.
According to a statement, the board commended the performance of Chandrasekaran and unanimously approved his reappointment as the executive chairman for the next five years. Chandrasekaran, 58, said, “it has been a privilege to lead the Tata Group for the last five years and I am delighted at the opportunity to lead the Tata Group for another five years, in its next phase.”
Chandra, as he is usually referred to, took over the reins of Tata Sons in 2017 at a time when the group faced a leadership crisis and a trust deficit after the ouster of his predecessor, Cyrus Mistry, by the board. Until then, Chandra, a trusted lieutenant of the Tatas, had helmed TCS, the crown jewel and cash cow of the group. A large part of Chandra's tenure was spent fighting the legal battle with Mistry. He joined the Tata Sons board in October 2016, was designated chairman in January 2017 and took official charge in February 2017. He also chairs the boards of operating companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power and TCS.
Under Chandra, Tatas sold the mobile phone business of Tata Teleservices to Bharti Airtel in an attempt to cut losses. In May 2018, the group made one of the biggest acquisitions to date when Tata Steel took over Bhushan Steel under the insolvency process. Tata Steel, which managed to turn around the company renamed as Tata Steel BSL, however, couldn't close a deal to sell its European business to ThyssenKrupp. In October last year, Tata Sons made a winning bid for Air India, bringing back an airline that the group had originally founded.
Last year, Chandra started his acquisition spree in the digital domain in his drive to launch a Super App which will sell from salt to airline tickets to the customers directly.
