Ratan Tata was the Chairman of Tata group from 1991 to 2012. It was named after his grandfather; he was brought up and raised by his grandmother as his parents were separated when he was just seven years old.
Ratan Naval Tata was born on 28th December 1937 in Surat, Gujarat, to Naval Tata and his first wife Sonoo. He has a younger brother Jimmy, and a step brother named Noel Tata from his father’s second marriage to Simone Tata.
Ratan Tata started his schooling at Campion School and finished up at Cathedral and John Connon School. After that he went on to study in Cornell University where he got a B.S. degree in architecture in structural engineering in 1962. He then went to Harvard Business School for a degree in the Advanced Management Program in 1975.
Ratan Tata was always interested in cars since his childhood days. He started his career in the year 1960 in the Tata Group. In the beginning, he worked as a general worker in Tata Steel. His success story speaks for itself when we see his rise in the ranks J.R.D Tata resigned from his chairmanship of Tata Group and made Rata Tata as his successor in 1991.
Tata Group reached new heights to become a global brand across the world. The group acquired many big brands under his leadership such as Tetley, Jaguar, Land Rover, Corus, etc. Tata consultancy services were built under the vision of Ratan Tata leadership. TATA Group is running 96 businesses and out of which 28 Companies are publically listed on the various stock exchanges. Tata Group is world’s top 50 Group according to Market capitalization and Reputation.
JRD Tata Trust & Sir Ratan Tata Trust are the main 65% ownership of TATA Sons which is the key holding company of the other 96 TATA Group Company is held by various charitable organizations.
Ratan Tata is currently chairing Emeritus of Tata Sons. He also continues to serve as a chairman of some of the major trusts of Tata Group. He has also been a member of the Prime Minister’s Council in Trade and Industry. Rata Tata is also a director on the board of Alcoa Inc. Ratan Tata is a renowned personality and received many awards and recognitions across the world.
Some of the major achievements of Ratan Tata:-
- Foreign Associate by National Academy of Engineering
- Sayaji Ratna Award by Baroda Management Association
- Hadrian Award by World Monument Fund, Honorary Doctorate by University of Amsterdam.
- Inspired Leadership Award by The Performance Theatre.
- Honorary Doctor of Business Administration from Ohio State University.
- Padma Bhushan (2000)
- Medal of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay (2004)
- Padma Vibhushan (2008)
Reasons Why Ratan Tata Is India’s Coolest Business Tycoon Ever:-
- He travels in economy class.
- He rejected the job offer from IBM for Tata Company.
- From a blue collar worker with great ideas to a business icon with legendary leadership skills.
- He took Indian auto industry to the world.
- Various honours from numerous prestigious institutions worldwide.
- He says nation comes before patriot.
- His involment in charitable work is remarkable.
- He encourages young entrepreneurs.
Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata launches Jaguar Land Rover and also hinted the manufacturing industry for this in Eastern Europe and in the US. Tata who steered the expansion of US $103-billion for over two decades with a number of takeovers such as Jaguar Land Rover.
“Take the stones people thrown at you and use them to build a monument” – Ratan Tata
During his successful tenure Ratan Tata launched the Tata Nano car, which made a lot of news. As he had always been into cars, this was a direct outcome of his passion. The car made news because it was apparently the cheapest car in the world. Tata Nano wasn’t just the result of his interest in cars, but it happened due to a dream that Ratan Tata always wanted to fullfill. He wanted to make an affordable car, so that the middle class could also get an experience of driving a four-wheeler. Thus the Indian middle class realised their dream of owning a car affordably.
The American company Ford has shown interest in acquiring Tata’s passenger car division, because of Tata’s wide delivery network and reach in the Indian market. Ratan Tata President of Tata Motors and chairman of the Tata Group went to his closest colleagues to hash out a deal with Ford.
The Ford executives in attendance felt that they would be doing the Indian company is taking favour for acquiring ford. He feel little bit humiliated, and left the meeting without finalizing the deal. On the 90-minute flight from Detroit to New York, from where the team would then make their way to Mumbai, Tata appeared to be deep in thought, reflecting upon what has just happened. But after many years when Ford Company faces struggle but Jaguar and Land rover are at peak of success.
The Kohinoor of business Mr. Ratan Tata resigned from his position on his 75th birthday transferring his responsibilities to Cyrus Mistry in 2012.