Ratan Tata passes away: It saddened the business world when Ratan Tata passed on Wednesday, October 9, after being in the ICU at a Mumbai hospital receiving treatment for a critical condition. Tata was 86 years old. This week the same billionaire stated that he was carrying out annual check ups because of age and other related illnesses.
Then Tata was taken to Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. The Chairperson of the Tata Group N Chandrasekaran, in an official statement said, “It is with a deep sense of sadness that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata – a leader amongst the rarest – whose incomparable stewardship has not only defined the Tata Group and scripted the growth but also enriched the very soul of our nation.”
Thus, for the Tata Group Mr. Tata was not only the chairperson. For me, he was a teacher and a role model and I am honored that we were friends, too. He was inspired by example. Meticulously committed to values of excellence, integrity and innovation, the Tata Group under his leadership not only grew in its international operations but also stayed deeply rooted to its ethos, said Chandrasekaran.
Ratan Tata’s Early life and education
Ratan Tata also had some personal issues in child hood. His parents divorced when he was 10 and he was brought up by his grandmother Navajbai Tata. He later moved to the US and was awarded a degree in Architecture at Cornell. In 1975 he did an AM course in Harvard business school In 1975 he did an AM course in Harvard business school.
He joined Tata as an employee right from the shop floor in 1962 as a member of Tata Sons. It provided him with the real life experience in his family business. A number of his early performances consists of a leadership post at NELCO and Empress Mills. The author of this radio program also tried to revive both companies but it reached a point when challenges could not allow them to be revived despite facing them.
Ratan Tata’s Awards and recognition
Awards mentioning Ratan Tata also grace the list of the carmaker’s accomplishments. There are the Padma Bhushan awarded in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan awarded in 2008. He was honored as the Oslo Business for Peace Award in 2010. In 2014 queen Elizabeth II honoured Ratan Tata also with Knight Grand Cross of the order of the British Empire which is among the top civilian awards that exist in the United Kingdom.
This is the kind of life preaching which has to be impressed one day you will realise that material things mean nothing. All that counts are our loved ones’ happiness “ – Ratan Tata
Ratan Tata’s Life after retirement
Despite stepping out of the limelight in 2012, Tata continues to operate. He focuses on the young enterprises and still contributes to charity. Ordinary is the life of Tata in spite of the successful professional he is now. He had no wife, lived in a small house in Mumbai and preferred Tata sedan car.
His Dedication to philanthropy
He said that Tata’s commitment to philanthropy and society welfare has given back to millions of people. All his educational and health care endeavours are among the best that have established a strong foundation for future generations. Tata’s authentic humility at every person touch point, underpinned all of this work.
I express my condolences on behalf of the entire TATA family to the family that he leaves behind. Imam continues to be an inspiration as we continue to embrace the values that he held dearly to his heart, a conscientious vindication,” Chandrasekaran further said.
Ratan Tata steps down with a record out of his kind.
Tata has been Chairman of the automobiles-to-steel chieftain since 1991 and headed the group established by great grandfather in 1904 until 2012. He started the Tata Teleservices business in 1996 and floated the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an Information Technology business, in 2004.
Following his resignation he was bestowed with the honorific as chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Limited, Tata Industries Limited, Tata Motors Limited, Tata Steel Limited, and Tata Chemical Limited. Tata, from 1991 as a chairman of the organization, built the 156 years old business house with a stupendous expansion having started from a very small begin. It recently operates in over a hundred countries and generates $165 billion of sales revenue for the year ended 31 March 2024.
In 21 years of leading the Tata Group, Tata grew revenues by a factor of more than 40 and profits by more than 50. He was conferred with Padma Vibhushan in 2008, the only step below Padma Bhushan which awarded him in 2000 which is third highest civilian honour in India.
Tata is also said to be one of the biggest benefactors in the world, a man who used to give over 60 to 65 per cent of his income to charity. He was also a very active investor and has invested in many startups such as Ola Electric Mobility, Snapdeal, Teabox and CashKaro.com.
He saw Tata Tea acquiring Tetley, Tata Motors getting Jaguar Land Rover and Tata Steel buying Corus. It placed Tata as a new kind of international conglomerate with more than two-thirds of its revenues generated through operations and sales outside India. He also visualised and led the Tata Nano car project which eased the car into a price bracket within the reach of a common Indian.
After his retirement Tata had clashes with Cyrus Mistry a subsequent Chairman of Tatason who was removed from his position on October 24, 2016. He came back to the conglomerate’s board as the interim chairman following the ouster of Mistry. He transferred the torch bearership of the group to N Chandrasekaran in January 2017 and started his position of Non-Executive Chairman Emeritus in Tata Sons.
Almost 90 years of state control, Tata Sons won back the management of Air India Ltd., the country’s airlines carrier in 2021. The deal enabled home to welcome to the group an airline that was initially founded by his mentor JRD Tata.
He is from the lineage of Naval Tata who was a adopted child of Ratanji Tata the son of Jamsetji Tata – the Tata group’s founder. Ratan Tata received a bachelor’s degree from the Cornell University College of Architecture.
He began his career with the Tata Group in 1961, on the operational floor at Tata Steel. In July of 1991, he took over the position of Chairman of Tata Sons when JRD Tata retired. Ratan Tata has not been married in his lifetime and does not have any kids.
