Sir Ratan Naval Tata (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist, philanthropist and former chairman of Tata Sons. He was a chairman of the Tata Group from 1990 to 2012, and interim chairman from October 2016 through February 2017. He continues to head its charitable trusts.[2][3] In 2008, he received the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour in India, after receiving the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian honour in 2000.[4]
He is the son of Naval Tata, who was adopted by Ratanji Tata, son of Jamsetji Tata, the founder 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 worked on the shop floor of Tata Steel. He later succeeded J. R. D. Tata as chairman of Tata Sons upon the latter's retirement in 1991. Under his tenure the Tata Group acquired Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover, and Corus, in an attempt to turn Tata from a largely India-centric group into a global business. Tata is also one of the largest philanthropists in the world, having donated around 60–65% of his income to charity.
Ratan Tata is also a prolific investor and has made numerous investments in several startups. Tata has invested in over 30 start-ups till date, most from his personal capacity and some via his investment company.[6][7]
Early life
Main article: Tata family
Ratan Tata was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, during the British Raj, into a Parsi Zoroastrian family, on 28 December 1937.[8] He is the son of Naval Tata, who was born in Surat and later adopted into the Tata family, and Sooni Tata, the niece of Tata group founder Jamsetji Tata. Tata's biological grandfather, Hormusji Tata, was a member of the Tata family by blood. In 1948, when Tata was 10, his parents separated, and he was subsequently raised and adopted by Navajbai Tata, his grandmother and widow of Ratanji Tata.[9] He has a younger brother Jimmy Tata[10] and a half-brother, Noel Tata, from Naval Tata's second marriage with Simone Tata, with whom he was raised.
He studied at the Campion School, Mumbai till the 8th class. After which, he studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla, and the Riverdale Country School in New York City, which he graduated from 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. In 2008, Tata gifted Cornell $50 Million, becoming the largest international donor in the university's history.[14]
Career
In the 1970s, Tata was given a managerial position in the Tata group. He achieved initial success by turning the subsidiary National Radio and Electronics (NELCO) around, only to see it collapse during an economic slowdown.[15][16] In 1991, J. R. D. Tata stepped down as chairman of Tata Sons, naming him his successor. Initially, Tata faced stiff resistance from the heads of various subsidiaries, who had a large amount of operational freedom under the senior Tata's tenure. In response, Tata implemented a number of policies designed to consolidate power, including the implementation of a retirement age, having subsidiaries report directly to the group office, and requiring subsidiaries to contribute their profit to building the Tata group brand. Tata prioritised innovation and delegated many responsibilities to younger talent.[17] Under his leadership, overlapping operations between subsidiaries were streamlined into company-wide operations, with the group exiting unrelated businesses to take on globalisation.[18]
Ratan Tata (right) in Bangladesh, 2005
During the 21 years Tata led the Tata Group, revenues grew over 40 times, and profit over 50 times.[15] When he took over the company, sales overwhelmingly comprised commodity sales, but at the end of his tenure, the majority of sales came from brands.[19][20] He had Tata Tea acquire Tetley, Tata Motors acquire Jaguar Land Rover, and Tata Steel acquire Corus. These acquisitions repositioned Tata from a largely India-centric group into a global business, with over 65% of revenues coming from operations and sales internationally.[15]
He also conceptualized and spearheaded the development of the Tata Nano car, which helped put cars at a price-point within reach of the average Indian consumer.[21][17] Tata Motors has since rolled out the first batch of Tigor Electric Vehicles from its Sanand Plant in Gujarat, which Tata has described as "fast-forward[ing] India's electric dream."[22]
Upon turning 75, Ratan Tata resigned his executive powers in the Tata group on 28 December 2012. An ensuing leadership crisis over his succession drew intense media scrutiny.[23] The board of directors and legal division of the company refused to appoint his successor, Cyrus Mistry, a relative of Tata and the son of Pallonji Mistry of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which was the largest individual shareholder of the Tata group.[24][25] On 24 October 2016, Cyrus Mistry was removed as chairman of Tata Sons, and Ratan Tata was made interim chairman. A selection committee, which included Tata as a member, was formed to find a successor.[26] On 12 January 2017, Natarajan Chandrasekaran was named as the chairman of Tata Sons, a role he assumed in February 2017. In February 2017, Mistry was removed as a director for Tata Sons.[27] The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal later found in December 2019 that the removal of Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons was illegal, and ordered that he be reinstated.[27] On appeal, India's Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of Cyrus Mistry.[28]
Tata has also invested in multiple companies with his own wealth. He has invested in Snapdeal – one of India's leading e-commerce websites. In January 2016, he invested in Teabox, an online premium Indian Tea seller,[29] and CashKaro.com, a discount coupons and cash-back website.[30] He has made small investments in both early and late stage companies in India, such as INR 0.95 Cr in Ola Cabs.[31] In April 2015, it was reported that Tata had acquired a stake in Chinese smartphone startup Xiaomi.[32] In 2016, he invested in Nestaway an online real-estate portal that later acquired Zenify to start the online real-estate and pet-care portal, Dogspot.[33][34][35][36] Tata also launched India's companionship startup for senior citizens, Goodfellows, in a bid to encourage intergenerational friendships."[37]
