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He received several honours throughout his life for his contributions to the field of business and philanthropy. Ratan Tata lived a simple life despite his high-profile career and resided in a modest home in Mumbai. On his 87th birth anniversary on December 28, let’s take a look at his life and enduring legacy.
Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937, in Mumbai to Naval and Soonoo Tata. He was raised by his grandmother, Navajbai Tata, following the separation of his parents. Tata earned a degree in architecture and engineering from Cornell University in 1962.
He began as an assistant at Tata Industries and later worked at Telco (now Tata Motors) and Tisco (now Tata Steel). In 1991, Ratan Tata became chairman of Tata Sons and led the company till 2012.
The Tata Group grew globally under his leadership and introduced several vehicles, such as the Tata Nano and Indica and acquired companies like Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus.
The revenue of the Tata Group increased from $5.7 billion in 1991 to nearly $100 billion by 2012.
Ratan Tata retired as Chairman of Tata Sons on December 28, 2012, at the age of 75. Cyrus Mistry was named his successor; however, on October 24, 2016, the Board of Directors and Legal division agreed to remove him and Ratan Tata became the group’s interim chairman.
His successor was chosen by a selection committee that included Ratan Tata, TVS Group CEO Venu Srinivasan, Bain Capital’s Amit Chandra, former diplomat Ronen Sen and Lord Kumar Bhattacharya. On January 12, 2017, the committee named Natarajan Chandrasekaran as Tata Sons’ chairperson.
Tata invested his savings in various platforms, including Snapdeal, Xiaomi, Ola Cabs, and Nestaway, among others. He also supported the University of New South Wales Faculty of Engineering to facilitate improved water for challenged areas.
The Tata Education and Development Trust established a $28 million Tata Scholarship Fund, which allows Cornell University to provide financial aid to Indian undergraduate students. The annual award will benefit around 20 students at any one moment.
In 2010, Tata Group and Tata Charities donated $50 million to Harvard Business School (HBS) to construct an executive centre. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has donated $35 million to Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) for a centre to study cognitive systems and autonomous vehicles.
In 2014, it also donated ₹950 million to the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and formed the Tata Center for Technology and Design (TCTD). The Tata Group also formed the MIT Tata Center of Technology and Design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
