 Ratan Naval Tata (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist, philanthropist,

and a former chairman of Tata Sons. He was also chairman of Tata Group, from 1990
to 2012, and again, as interim chairman, from October 2016 through February 2017,
and continues to head its charitable trusts. He is the recipient of two of the highest
civilian awards of India, the Padma Vibhushan (2008) and Padma Bhushan (2000).
 He is well known for his business ethics and philanthropy. Ratan Tata was born in
Bombay, now Mumbai, on 28 December 1937, and is the son of Naval Tata (born in
Surat). His biological maternal grandmother had been the sister of Hirabai Tata, wife
of group founder Jamshedji Tata.
 His biological grandfather, Hormusji Tata, had belonged to the broader Tata family; He
has a half-brother, Noel Tata (from Naval Tata's second marriage with Simone Tata),
with whom he was raised.

One of the most well-known and respected industrialists in India, Ratan Naval
Tata is the Chairman of Tata Sons and Tata Group. At the age of 73, Tata
heads one of the country’s largest conglomerates which comprise nearly 100
firms with revenues totaling about USD 67 billion. He is also the chairman of
major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata
Teleservices. Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals,
and The Indian Hotels Company.
Tata was born on December 28, 1937 in Mumbai, in one of the richest
families. His great grandfather was Jamsedji Tata, founder of the Tata group.
As a young boy, Tata had a disturbed childhood after his parents split. He was
raised by his grandmother, Lady Navajbai in the lap of luxury at Tata Palace.
America held a special fascination for the Tata scion and he went to Cornell
University to study architecture and structural engineering. Later he pursued a
management course from Harvard University.
In 1962, he joined the Tata Group and his first job involved working with the
Tata Steel division in Jamshedpur, where he worked with the blue-collar
employees shoveling stone and working with the furnaces. He was appointed
the Director-in-Charge of the National Radio & Electronics Company Limited
(Nelco) in 1971 and was successful in turning Nelco around.
Tata later paved his way to become the Chairman of Tata Industries and was
instrumental in ushering in a wide array of reforms. It was under his
stewardship that Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was
listed in the New York Stock Exchange giving it more international power and
recognition. He is credited with leading the Tatas' successful bid for Corus- an
Anglo-Dutch steel and aluminum producer as well as Jaguar and Land Rover
brands from the Ford Company.
During his tenure the company witnessed the launch of india’s first truly Indian
car, ‘Indica’. The car was the brainchild of Tata. In 2000 Tata's food division
acquired tea firm Tetley for GBP 70 million. In the year 2009-10 the group’s
revenues have grown nearly 12-fold, totalling USD 67.4 billion. Tata also
serves on the boards of Fiat SpA and Alcoa and is also on the international
advisory boards of Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group,
JP Morgan Chase, Rolls Royce, Temasek Holdings and the Monetary
Authority of Singapore.

In year 2000, he was honored with Padma Bhushan by the government of

India. He was also conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration
by Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian
Institute of Technology, Bangkok, and an honorary doctorate in science by the
University of Warwick. Tata has a personal fortune of GBP 300 million and
owns less than 1% of the colossal group. Over two thirds of Tata Group is
owned by charitable trusts that finance good causes.

Tata set a perfect example of generosity and leadership during the 26/11
attacks. Unarmed he stood all alone outside the Taj hotel and supervised the
activities to help the victims. He showcased his humane gesture by personally
visiting the families of all the 80 employees who were killed or injured. He left
no stone unturned to provide relief to the victims and even asked the families
and dependents as to what they wanted him to do.

His retirement may still be a year away, but Tata has started chalking out
plans on his post-retirement. He plans to set up a design centre of
international standards and scale. He has led development of many innovative
designs and products, the most celebrated being Nano. The idea of Nano was
born with his concern for the safety of nuclear families commuting on two-
wheelers. He was the one who suggested that the miniature car should be
fitted with just one windscreen wiper. This reduced its price and maintenance
cost.

His also steered plan to provide cheap and clean drinking water and helped a
few Pune-based designers develop a sub-Rs 1,000 water purifier, Swach.
Design Directions Private Limited took more than three years to make this
560-mm unit for purifying water.

A bachelor in real life, Tata loves privacy and shuns media spotlight. He has
only CDs, books and dogs for company. The business baron drives himself to
work in an unremarkable Tata sedan.

Standing tall with his contemporaries with a staggering fortune and world
recognition, Ratan Tata has amazingly never featured in the ‘Forbes
billionaires list’.
. He is a visionary. When he joined the group, it was barely doing any
business outside India. Even though many opposed him, he maintained that
the company had to go global. Today half of Tata’s revenues come from
overseas. Under his leadership Tata acquired brands like Tetley, Jaguar Land
Rover, and Taj Boston.

He is known for his humility, and there are countless examples. He started out
working as a blue collar employee for Tata Steel. He personally visited the
families of the 80 employees who were affected because of the 26/11 attacks.
He remembers almost everyone by their first names, and is not dismissive.
There are many examples of how attentive he is, and he is well loved by all
who know him.

3. He is a decision maker. A famous quote of his is “I don’t believe in making

the right decisions. I take decisions and then make them right.”

4. He inspires people. Tata does well because its employees and

management adhere to its values. Ratan Tata has made sure that the huge
conglomerate sticks to the Tata values. The mission of the company is “to
improve the lives of the communities we serve globally.”

5. He is a risk taker. He has made big moves like launching the Tata Nano,
and acquiring the second largest steel-maker in Europe.

“A life without excitement, ups and downs is too much boring and dull. You
need to be a storyteller to your grandchildren, why don’t prepare for that from
now? We get this life only once, experience every aspect of it. No one ever
have grown without falling once, fail as many times as you can, then only you
can succeed. So quit complaining and start exploring,” he has said.