Half-sisters, friend: Meet the people Ratan Tata trusted to execute his will

Ratan Tata’s will: Darius Khambata, a lawyer, and Mehli Mistry, a close friend and associate, have been appointed as executors of Ratan Tata‘s will, along with his half-sisters Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, executives familiar with the matter told ET.
According to the Hurun India Rich List 2024, released in August, Ratan Tata owned a 0.83% stake in Tata Sons and had a net worth of Rs 7,900 crore.
He had always expressed a strong desire to donate a substantial portion of his wealth to charitable causes and society. The specifics of his will remain private.
The market value of Tata Sons’ stake in the group’s listed entities is estimated to be around Rs 16.71 lakh crore.
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The former Tata Group chairman passed away on October 9 at the age of 86, and his half-brother Noel Tata has taken over as the chairman of Tata Trusts.
Mehli Mistry, a trusted confidante of Ratan Tata, served as a trustee on the board of the two primary Tata charities, the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, which collectively hold approximately 52% of Tata Sons, the Tata Group’s holding company. The Tata Trusts, as a whole, own a 66% stake in Tata Sons.
Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy are the daughters of Ratan Tata’s mother, Soonoo, from her second marriage to Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy.
The sisters have consistently been involved in philanthropic activities. Deanna had previously served as a trustee on the board of the Ratan Tata Trust during the 1990s and early 2000s. According to a former Tata executive, the late Ratan Tata shared a close bond with his much younger sisters.
Advocate Kambatta, who had previously served as a trustee at the two primary trusts, returned to his position last year after a nearly seven-year absence. He had departed from the Trusts in 2016, citing professional obligations, the ET report said.
Advocate Darius Khambata has clarified, “I’ve not drafted Mr Ratan Tata’s will nor advised him on its contents. I saw his will for the first time after he passed away.”
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According to Ashish Kumar Singh, a partner at Capstone Legal, the executor of the will must carry out the deceased’s final wishes while adhering to the relevant laws.
“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.”
As of FY23, RNT Associates Pvt. Ltd, Ratan Tata’s personal investment vehicle, held investments valued at Rs 186 crore. These figures represent the original acquisition cost and not the current market value, which may have increased since then. The only two board members of RNT Associates were Mistry and Ratan Tata.
Mistry, a first cousin of the late Cyrus Mistry, consistently supported Ratan Tata during the dispute over the former’s removal as Tata Sons chairman. In recent years, when Ratan Tata’s health was not at its best, he was also involved in caring for him.
In October 2022, Mistry was appointed to the boards of two of the largest Tata Trusts. He serves on the boards of more than a dozen companies within the M Pallonji Group, which operates in various sectors such as paints, dredging, logistics, shipping, finance, auto dealerships, and life insurance.
Additionally, he holds board positions at Breach Candy Hospital, the Advanced Veterinary Care Foundation, and the Tata Indian Institute of Social Skills.