Mehli Mistry has resigned from the board of RNT Associates, the family investment office linked to the late Ratan Tata, a little over three years after he joined it, people close to him confirmed the development to the Indian Express. In a letter dated 30 June and addressed to the board of RNT Associates, Mistry cited other commitments as the reason for stepping down. Mistry had joined the RNT Associates board in March 2023.
The move comes months after his removal from the Tata Trusts and marks a further step in his separation from the Tata Group’s ecosystem of companies and philanthropic bodies.
With his exit, the board now comprises four members: Ratan Tata’s half-sisters Shireen Jejeebhoy and Deanna Jejeebhoy, Tata Sons senior executive Jamsheed Poncha, and Tata Sons General Counsel Sidharth Sharma.
Mistry’s exit from RNT Associates follows removal from Tata Trusts
Mistry’s departure from RNT Associates comes after he was ousted in November 2025 from the Tata Trusts, the philanthropic entities that collectively hold a majority stake in Tata Sons, the Group’s holding company. Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata Trust together own more than 51% of Tata Sons, with other smaller trusts accounting for a further 14.4%, taking the Trusts’ combined holding to 65.9%. The rest of Tata Sons is held by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, nine Tata Group companies, and a handful of individual shareholders.
Following his removal from the Trusts, Mistry contested the decision before the Maharashtra charity commissioner, naming Trusts chairman Noel Tata and vice-chairmen Venu Srinivasan and Vijay Singh in his challenge. He has said he is not seeking reinstatement but wants to place on record what he describes as governance lapses at the Trusts that he says prompted his ouster.
Mistry continues to serve on the board of the Tata Education and Development Trust, the wealthiest of the Tata Trusts’ affiliate bodies.
About RNT Associates
RNT Associates was set up in March 2009 as the vehicle through which Ratan Tata made personal investments in start-ups. Its portfolio includes small stakes in close to two dozen companies, among them Paytm, Ola and BlueStone.
Ratan Tata and R.K. Krishna Kumar, another longtime associate, were the principal shareholders of RNT Associates for years. In 2022, Ratan Tata had set up two entities, namely, the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation (RTEF) and the Ratan Tata Endowment Trust (RTET), which now hold the shares in RNT Associates.
RTEF’s board includes Tata Sons chairman N. Chandrasekaran along with former Tata Group executives Raghavan Shastri and Burzis Taraporevala. RTET’s trustees include Noel Tata, Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, former Citibank India executive Pramit Jhaveri, Shastri, and Poncha.