He was one of the world’s most influential industrialists yet he never appeared on any list of billionaires. He controlled over 30 companies that operated in over 100 countries across six continents yet lived an unpretentious life.
Ratan Naval Tata, who died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night at the age of 86 years, enjoyed a perhaps unique status — a corporate titan who was considered a ‘secular living saint’ with a reputation for decency and integrity.
Tata joined the family firm after acquiring a B.S. in architecture from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, in 1962. He initially worked on the shop floor, gaining experience in a number of Tata Group businesses before being named director in charge of one of them, the National Radio and Electronics Co in 1971.
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He became chairman of Tata Industries a decade later and in 1991, took over as the chairman of the Tata Group from his uncle, JRD, who had been in charge for more than half a century.
This was the year when India opened its economy and Tata soon turned the group, which began as a small textile and trading firm in 1868, into a global powerhouse with operations stretching from salt to steel, cars to software, power plants and airlines.
He was the chairman of Tata Sons, the group’s main holding company, for more than two decades during which the conglomerate aggressively sought to expand, acquiring London-based Tetley Tea in 2000 for USD 431.3 million, buying truck-manufacturing operations of South Korea’s Daewoo Motors for USD 102 million in 2004, paying USD 11.3 billion to take over Anglo-Dutch steel manufacturer Corus Group and spending USD 2.3 billion to purchase elite British car brands Jaguar and Land Rover from the Ford Motor Company.
Along with being one of India’s most successful business tycoons, he is also known for his philanthropic activities. His personal involvement in philanthropy began early. In the 1970s, he initiated The Aga Khan Hospital and Medical College project, laying the foundation of one of India’s premier healthcare institutions.
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After his appointment as the chairman of Tata Sons in 1991, Tata’s philanthropic efforts gained new momentum. He actively steered the Tata Trusts, established by his great-grandfather Jamsetji, towards addressing vital social needs and set up institutes of excellence like the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and funded educational initiatives across India.
Despite being the embodiment of class and elegance, Tata was not untouched by controversies. Though the group was not implicated directly in the 2008 scam in the allocation of second-generation telecom licences, he was drawn through the leaked recordings of purported phone calls he made to lobbyist Nira Radia. He was not implicated in any wrongdoing.
In December 2012, he ceded control of Tata Sons to Cyrus Mistry, who was his deputy then. But the owners had problems with the functioning of the first non-Tata family member, leading to the ouster of Mistry in October 2016.
Ratan Tata was said to be one of the shareholders who disagreed with Mistry on several projects. This included Mistry’s decision to stop loss-making small car Nano, a pet project of Ratan Tata.
Following Mistry’s ouster, Tata briefly served as the interim chairman beginning in October 2016 and returned to retirement in January 2017 when Natarajan Chandrasekaran was appointed the chairman of the Tata Group.
He has since been the emeritus chairman of Tata Sons. During this time, he donned a new hat, helping young entrepreneurs of the 21st century, investing in new age tech-driven start-ups which will play a significant role in shaping the future of the country.
In his personal capacity and some through his investment company RNT Capital Advisors, Tata invested in over 30 start-ups, including Ola Electric, Paytm, Snapdeal, Lenskart and Zivame.
One wet monsoon evening not many moons ago, dog-lover Tata had decreed that any strays outside the conglomerate’s HQ in downtown Mumbai be allowed shelter. Some never left but their benefactor is no more.
