Tata Sons fired its chairman mid-term in 2016 and installed TCS's Chandrasekaran

In October 2016, in a move that surprised markets, the board of Tata Sons — holding company of the $100 billion Tata empire — removed Cyrus Mistry as chairman and restored Ratan Tata as interim chairman. Tata Sons later said it had lost confidence in Mistry's ability to lead the group.

A public power struggle followed: Tata Sons asked shareholders of group companies to remove Mistry from their boards, arguing his presence risked fragmenting the group, while Mistry rejected the accusations and defended his record.

In January 2017 the board named N. Chandrasekaran, then CEO of IT giant TCS, as Tata Sons chairman — a veteran insider chosen to steady the group. Four years later the holding company's net profit more than doubled, jumping 164% to ₹17,171 crore in FY22.

Four years into Chandrasekaran's chairmanship, Tata Sons' net profit more than doubled to ₹17,171 crore in FY22, up 164% from ₹6,512 crore in FY21.

The board acted decisively instead of letting the conflict drag on.

Choosing a proven insider reduced transition risk.

Restoring the founder figurehead temporarily calmed stakeholders.

Clean leadership let operating companies focus on results.

When a hand-picked successor fails, act fast and publicly: the October 2016 coup and January 2017 replacement ended the drift and let the group's operating companies focus on results.

Chandrasekaran was reappointed in 2022 and the Tata group went on to make large strategic bets again, with the 2016–17 succession reshaping how the group handles leadership change.