According to Thomas Mathew, the author of the biography Ratan Tata: A Life, Ratan Tata's "no comments" response to questions about whether he shared the concerns of some Tata Group veterans—who believed Cyrus Mistry was trying to break up the conglomerate—was more revealing than any statement he could have made.

As per PTI, Tata had fully supported Mistry as his successor in 2012, despite harbouring doubts about his suitability after the first year of their ‘parallel running’ arrangement. However, Mistry’s removal as Chairman of Tata Sons in 2016 was primarily due to "ethical and moral issues", as well as performance concerns, according to Mathew’s account.