N Chandrasekaran takes charge at Tata Sons; to hold chairmanship of TCS too

Tata Sons Chairman-designate Natarajan Chandrasekaran will also hold the chairmanship of the group’s crown jewel Tata Consultancy Services from Tuesday. The country’s largest software services provider has also named V Ramakrishnan as its Chief Financial Officer to succeed Rajesh Gopinathan, who will take over as the CEO and MD of the Tata Group company. “TCS has received a letter from Tata Sons, in exercise of the powers under Article 90 of the Articles of Association of the Company, nominating N Chandrasekaran as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company in place of Ishaat Hussain, with effect from February 21, 2017,” it said in a BSE filing. The nomination was duly noted by the directors at its meeting held on February 20, 2017, it added. [caption id=“attachment_3201782” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  N Chandrasekharan, Chairman,Tata Sons. Reuters[/caption] Chandrasekaran, currently Chief Executive and Managing Director of TCS, will take charge as the Non-Executive Chairman of the board of directors of TCS with effect from tomorrow. In a separate filing, TCS said its board of directors appointed V Ramakrishnan as the Chief Financial Officer with effect from February 21. Ramakrishnan, or Ramki as he is popularly known, joined TCS Finance in 1999, and served as the Finance Head of TCS North America for seven years. “Ramki closely partnered with business in the rapid growth of TCS’ operations in the region. Most recently, he has been responsible for the financial controllership of TCS subsidiaries and branches globally and various merger and acquisitions integration initiatives,” TCS said. Earlier in the day, TCS also announced a Rs 16,000 crore buyback, the largest till date in the Indian corporate history. “Ramki has been a key member of the TCS Finance team for more than 17 years and has worked closely with me over the last nine years. I am confident that under Ramki’s leadership, TCS Finance will continue to extend its leadership position,” Gopinathan, who has been appointed to the Board, said. TCS also announced that Chief Operating Officer N Ganapathy Subramaniam will be on the board of the company as Executive Director. The bitter boardroom battle between the Tatas and Cyrus Mistry had led to Tata Sons removing him as the Chairman of TCS. Tata Sons then appointed Ishaat Hussain as TCS Chairman on November 11. TCS had said Hussain would hold office as the Chairman until a new Chairman is appointed in his place.