Ratan Tata – Wikipedia

Indian industriaenumerate and philanthropist (1937–2024)

Ratan Tata (28 December 1937 – 9 October 2024) was an Indian industriaenumerate and philanthropist who served as chairman of Tata Group and Tata Sons from 1990 to 2012, and then as interim chairman from October 2016 thcimpolite February 2017.^[2][3] In 2008, he getd the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in India. Ratan had previously getd the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour, in 2000.^[4] He passed away on October 9, 2024, follothriveg a proextfinisheded illness rhappy to his age.

Ratan Tata was the son of Naval Tata, who was adchooseed by Ratanji Tata. Ratanji Tata was the son of Jamshedji Tata, the set uper of the Tata Group. He graduated from the Cornell University College of Architecture with a bachelor’s degree in architecture.^[5] He joined Tata in 1961, where he toiled on the shop floor of Tata Steel. He postponeedr thriveed J. R. D. Tata as chairman of Tata Sons upon the latter’s withdrawment in 1991. During his tenure, the Tata Group getd Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover, and Corus, in an try to turn Tata from a bigly India-centric group into a global business. Tata was also a philanthropist.

Tata was a prolific spendor and spended in over 30 begin-ups, most in a personal capacity and some via his spendment company.^[6][7]

Early life and education

Ratan Tata was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, during the British Raj, into a Parsi Zoroastrian family, on 28 December 1937.^[8] He was the son of Naval Tata (who was born in Surat and postponeedr adchooseed into the Tata family) and Sooni Tata (the niece of Tata group set uper Jamshedji Tata). Tata’s biorational majesticobeseher Hormusji Tata was a member of the Tata family by blood. In 1948, when Tata was 10, his parents splitd, and he was subsequently elevated and adchooseed by Navajbai Tata (his majesticmother and widow of Ratanji Tata^[9]). He had a lesserer brother Jimmy Tata^[10] and a half-brother, Noel Tata, from Naval Tata’s second marriage with his step-mother Simone Tata.

Tata studied at the Campion School, Mumbai until 8th grade. He then persistd his studies at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, and the Riverdale Country School in New York City, from which he graduated in 1955.^[11][12][13] After graduating from high school, Tata enrolled in Cornell University, from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1959. While at Cornell, Tata became a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. In 2008, Tata gifted Cornell $50 million, becoming the bigst international donor in the university’s history.^[14]

Career

In the 1970s, Ratan Tata was given a regulaterial position in the Tata group. He accomplishd initial success by turning the subsidiary National Radio and Electronics (NELCO) around, only to see it collapse during an economic sluggishdown.^[15][16] In 1991, J. R. D. Tata stepped down as chairman of Tata Sons, naming him his successor. Initiassociate, Tata faced stiff resistance from the heads of various subsidiaries, who had a big amount of operational freedom under the ageder Tata’s tenure. In response, Tata carry outed a number of policies depicted to validateate power, including the carry outation of a withdrawment age, having subsidiaries increate straightforwardly to the group office, and requiring subsidiaries to give their profit to produceing the Tata group brand. Tata prioritised innovation and assignd many responsibilities to lesserer talent.^[17] Under his directership, overlapping operations between subsidiaries were streamlined into company-wide operations, with the group exiting unrhappy businesses to apvalidate on globalisation.^[18]

During the 21 years Tata led the Tata Group, revenue grew over 40 times, and profit over 50 times.^[15] When he took over the company, sales overwhelmingly compelevated commodity sales, but at the finish of his tenure, the presentantity of sales came from brands.^[19][20] He had Tata Tea get Tetley, Tata Motors get Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Steel get Corus. These acquisitions repositioned Tata from a bigly India-centric group into a global business, with over 65% of revenues coming from operations and sales internationassociate.^[15]

He also conceptualized and spearheaded the enbigment of the Tata Nano car, which helped put cars at a price-point wiskinny accomplish of the ordinary Indian devourr.^[21][17] Tata Motors has since rolled out the first batch of Tigor Electric Vehicles from its Sanand Plant in Gujarat, which Tata has depictd as to “rapid-forward India’s electric dream.”^[22]

Upon turning 75, Ratan Tata resigned his executive powers in the Tata group on 28 December 2012. An ensuing directership crisis over his succession drew fervent media scruminuscule.^[23] The board of straightforwardors and lterrible division of the company declined to assign his successor, Cyrus Mistry, a relative of Tata and the son of Pallonji Mistry of the Shaneedyji Pallonji Group, which was the bigst individual splithelderlyer of the Tata group.^[24][25] On 24 October 2016, Cyrus Mistry was erased as chairman of Tata Sons, and Ratan Tata was made interim chairman. A pickion pledgetee, which take partd Tata as a member, was createed to discover a successor.^[26] On 12 January 2017, Natarajan Chandrasekaran was named as the chairman of Tata Sons, a role he presumed in February 2017. In February 2017, Mistry was erased as a straightforwardor for Tata Sons.^[27] The National Company Law Appelpostponeed Tribunal postponeedr set up in December 2019 that the removal of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons was illterrible, and ordered that he be reinstated.^[27] On request, India’s Supreme Court upheld the disthink aboutal of Cyrus Mistry.^[28]

Tata had also spended in multiple companies with his own wealth. He had spended in Snapdeal – one of India’s directing e-commerce websites. In January 2016, he spended in Teabox, an online premium Indian Tea seller,^[29] and CashKaro.com, a discount coupons and cash-back website.^[30] He had made minuscule spendments in both timely and postponeed stage companies in India, such as INR 0.95 Cr in Ola Cabs.^[31] In April 2015, it was increateed that Tata had getd a sapvalidate in Chinese cleverphone beginup Xiaomi.^[32] In 2016, he spended in Nestaway an online genuine-estate portal that postponeedr getd Zenify to begin the online genuine-estate and pet-nurture portal, Dogspot.^{[33][34][35][36]} Tata also begined India’s companionship beginup for ageder citizens, Goodfellows, in a bid to encourage intergenerational frifinishships.”^[37]

Philanthropy

Tata was a aider of education, medicine and country enbigment, and think abouted a directing philanthropist in India.^[38][39][40] Tata aided University of New South Wales Faculty of Engineering to enbig capacitive deionization to supply betterd water for contestd areas.^[41][42]

Tata Hall at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego) is a state-of-the-art research facility that was uncovered in November 2018. The produceing is named after the Tata Trusts, who gived $70 million to UC San Diego in 2016 to set up the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS), which is hoengaged wiskinny the produceing. Tata Hall is a 4-story produceing that spans over 128,000 square feet and hoengages research facilities for the biorational and physical sciences. The produceing has laboratories, offices, and greeting spaces that are depicted to back collaboration and innovation among researchers. It is a LEED-certified produceing; depicted to be environmenloftyy sustainable and energy-effective.^[43]

Tata Hall at UC San Diego is a research facility concentrateed on biotechnology and hoengages the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, which directs research on genetics and disease administer. It is named after the Tata Trusts, who made a $70 million gift to UC San Diego in 2016 to set up the Tata Institute for Genetics and Society. The Tata Institute for Genetics and Society at UC San Diego is a joint initiative between the Tata Trusts and UC San Diego. It aims to includeress some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as the spread of infectious diseases and the need for sustainable food sources. The research directed at the institute concentratees on a range of topics, including gene editing, stem cell therapy, and disease administer.^[43]

Tata Education and Development Trust, a philanthropic affiliate of Tata Group, finishowed a $28  million Tata Scholarship Fund that will apvalidate Cornell University to supply financial help to undergraduate students from India. The scholarship fund will aid approximately 20 scholars at any given time and will asstateive that the very best Indian students have access to Cornell, think aboutless of their financial circumstances. The scholarship will be awarded annuassociate; recipients will get it for the duration of their undergraduate study at Cornell.^[44]

In 2010 Tata Group companies and Tata charities gived $50 million for the produceion of an executive cgo in at Harvard Business School (HBS).^[45] The executive cgo in has been named Tata Hall, after Ratan Tata (AMP ’75), chairman emeritus of Tata Sons.^[46] The total produceion costs have been appraised at $100 million.^[47] Tata Hall is discoverd in the northeast corner of the HBS campus, and is pledged to the Harvard Business School’s mid-nurtureer executive education program. It is seven stories lofty, and about 155,000 gross square feet. It hoengages approximately 180 bedrooms, in includeition to academic and multi-purpose spaces.^[48]

The Tata Innovation Cgo in at Cornell Tech is named after Ratan Tata, and joines academics and industry in a produceing on the Roosevelt Island campus. The seven-floor set up is unbenevolentt primarily as a business incubator for students, faculty, and staff, with 70% of the produceing being commerciassociate rentd and 30% pledged to academic space. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is a tenant in the space.^[49]

TCS has given the bigst ever donation by a company to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) for a facility to research cognitive systems and autonomous vehicles. TCS gived $35 million for this majestic 48,000 square-foot produceing that is called TCS Hall.^[50]

In 2014, Tata Group finishowed the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and createed the Tata Cgo in for Technology and Design (TCTD) to enbig depict and engineering principles suited to the needs of people and communities with confineed resources. They gave ₹950 million to the institute which was the bigst ever donation getd in its history.^[51][52]

Tata Trusts under the chairmanship of Ratan Tata supplyd a grant of ₹750 million to the Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science to study mechanisms underlying the caengage of Alzheimer’s disease and to progress methods for its timely diagnosis and treatment. This grant was to be spread over 5 years begining in 2014.^[53][54]

Tata Group, under the directership of Ratan Tata createed the MIT Tata Cgo in of Technology and Design at Massachengagetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a leave oution to includeress the contests of resource-constrained communities, with an initial concentrate on India.^[55]

Board memberships and affiliations

Ratan Tata was the interim chairman of Tata Sons. He headed the main two Tata supposes Sir Dorabji Tata and Allied Trusts and Sir Ratan Tata Trust and their allied supposes, with a joind sapvalidate of 66% in Tata Sons, Tata group’s helderlying company.^[56]

He served in various capacities in organisations in India and awide. He was a member of Prime Minister’s ‘Council on Trade and Industry’ and the ‘National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council’. He was on the jury panel of Pritzker Architecture Prize^[57] – think abouted to be one of the world’s premier architecture prizes.

Over the years, Tata had served on the Cornell University Board of Trustees, personassociate advising the school’s administration in matters of international take partment, particularly think abouting projects joined to India. More widely, Tata had served on the board’s Academic Afequitables, Student Life, and Development Committees. In 2013 he was named Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year.^[58]

He was a straightforwardor on the boards of Alcoa Inc., Mondelez International^[59] and Board of Governors of the East–West Cgo in. He was also a member of the board of supposeees of University of Southern California, Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors, X Prize^[60] and Cornell University. He was a member on the board of International Advisory Council at Bocconi University.^[61]

He was on the advisory board of Hakluyt & Co, an international adviseancy company.^[62]

In 2013 he was assigned to the board of supposeees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.^[63]

In February 2015 Ratan took an advisory role at Kalari Capital, a venture capital firm set uped by Vani Kola.^[64]

In October 2016 Tata Sons erased Cyrus Mistry as its chairman, cforfeitly 4 years after he took over the reins of the over $100 billion conglomerate, Ratan Tata made a comeback, taking over the company’s interim boss for 4 months. On 12 January 2017, Natarajan Chandrasekaran was named as the chairman of Tata Sons, a role he presumed in February 2017.^[65]

Personal life and death

Tata never wed and had no children. In 2011, he stated, “I came seal to getting wed four times and each time I backed off in worry or for one reason or another.”^[66]

Tata was acunderstandledgeted in critical condition and was under intensive nurture since 7 October 2024.^[67] On the night of 9 October 2024, he died at Baccomplish Candy Hospital in Mumbai, at the age of 86.^[68][69]

Honours and awards

Ratan Tata getd the Padma Bhushan in 2000 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008, the third and second highest civilian honours awarded by the Government of India.^[70] Tata has also getd various state civilian honours such as ‘Maharashtra Bhushan‘ in 2006 for his toil in the accessible administration in Maharashtra and ‘Assam Baibhav‘ in 2021 for his contribution towards furthering cancer nurture in Assam.^[71]

Other awards take part:

In famous culture

Mega Icons (2018–2020), an Indian recordary television series on National Geodetailed about notable Indian personalities, pledged an episode to Ratan Tata’s contributions.^[119]

References

Bibliography

External joins