Ratan Tata is a renowned Indian industrialist and retired chairman of Tata Sons. He was the chairman of the Tata Group from 1991 to 2012. He stepped down as the chairman of the Tata Group on 28 December 2012, but continues to be the chairman of the Tata Group’s charitable trust. He was also the chairman of all major Tata Group companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and Tata Teleservices. Under his leadership, the Tata Group scaled new heights and the Group’s revenue also increased manifold.
Early life
Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937 in the city of Surat, India. Ratan Tata is the son of Naval Tata who was adopted by Navajbai Tata after the death of her husband Ratanji Tata. His parents (Naval and Sonu) separated in the mid-1940s when Ratan was ten years old and his younger brother, Jimmy, seven. Thereafter both the brothers were raised by their grandmother Navajbai Tata. Ratan Tata also has a half-brother named Noel Tata.
Ratan’s early education was from Campion School in Mumbai and secondary education from Cathedral and John Connon School. He then completed his BS in Architecture with Structural Engineering from Cornell University in 1962. Thereafter, he completed the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975.
Carrier
Before returning to India, Ratan briefly worked at Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles, California. He started his career with the Tata Group in 1961. In the initial days, he worked on the shop floor of Tata Steel. After this he joined with other companies of Tata Group. In 1971, he was appointed Director-in-Charge in the National Radio and Electronics Company (Nelco). In 1981, he was made the chairman of Tata Industries. In 1991, JRD Tata stepped down as the chairman of the group and made Ratan Tata his successor.
The Tata group scaled new heights under Ratan’s leadership. Under his leadership Tata Consultancy Services issued a public issue and Tata Motors was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998, Tata Motors introduced the first fully Indian passenger car – the Tata Indica. Subsequently, Tata Tea acquired Tetley, Tata Motors ‘Jaguar Land Rover’ and Tata Steel acquired ‘Corus’, which greatly increased the reputation of the Tata group in the Indian industry. The Tata Nano – the world’s cheapest passenger car – is also the result of Ratan Tata’s thinking.
He retired from all executive responsibilities of the Tata Group on 28 December 2012. He was replaced by 44-year-old Cyrus Mistry. Although Tata is now retired, he is still engaged in business. More recently, he has made his personal investment in India’s e-commerce company Snapdeal. Along with this, he has also invested in another e-commerce company Urban Ladder and Chinese mobile company Xiaomi.
Ratan is currently the retired Chairman of the Tata Group. Along with this, he also remains the chairman of 2 trusts of Tata Sons.
Ratan Tata has played an important role in many organizations in India as well as in other countries. He is a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry and the National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. Ratan is also a director on the boards of several companies.
Honors and Awards
The Government of India honored Ratan Tata with Padma Bhushan (2000) and Padma Vibhushan (2008). These honors are the country’s third and second highest civilian honours.
Interesting facts of Ratan Tata
- The Tata Group with 100 companies is the fifth largest company in the world. In which Tata tea, 5 star hotels, steel, cars and airplanes are included.
- Let us tell you that Ratan Tata loves to keep pets. That’s why he has given his Mumbai Bengal Bangla, which is worth 400 crores, to take care of pet dogs. At the same time, he is also very fond of flying a plane, for which he also has a license.
- Ratan Tata’s way of working is completely different. That’s why the employees working with him also like working with him a lot. That’s why it is said that working in Tata is no less than a government job.
- Ratan Tata gave 21 years to his group and let us tell you that, in these 21 years, he made his company to the top. Therefore, in today’s time, the value of this company has increased almost 50 times.
- It is well known to everyone that in the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008, all the people who were injured in the Taj Hotel were treated by Tata.
- In the 26/11 attack, people who used to shop or cart around the hotel. The Tata Group had also come forward to help them and they helped them in the form of compensation.
- The 26/11 terrorist attack is hardly forgotten by Mumbaikars. Especially those people who became captive in it. Among them was the staff of Taj Hotel. Therefore, the salary for the number of days the hotel remained closed was given to the employees by Tata.
Ratan Tata net worth
If we talk about the market value of all the companies of Tata Group, then according to an estimate, the market value of their companies will be Rs 17 lakh crore. According to a report, his net worth is $ 117 billion i.e. about 8.25 lakh crores. Ratan Tata donates 65 percent of this money to help people. This is the reason why he is not included in the rich people of the world. But people consider him very rich of heart.
