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Ratan Tata, Indian Tycoon Who Took His Empire Global, Dead At 86
Ratan Tata, the former chairman of the Indian giant Tata Group, died at the age of 86, according to a company statement.
The industrialist ascended to global fame through a succession of high-profile multinational transactions. In 2008, he famously supervised Tata Motors’ acquisition of British automobile companies, such as Jaguar and Land Rover, from Ford.
“It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation,” said a statement released on Wednesday.
Ratan Tata, Indian Tycoon Who Took His Empire Global, Dead At 86
In a post on X, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reacted to Ratan’s death, calling him a “visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being.”
Ratan was born in 1937 to a Parsi family, an ethno-religious community of Persian heritage in India who practice the Zoroastrian religion. He graduated from Cornell University, where he studied architectural and structural engineering.
He returned to India in 1962 and joined the family business, which his great-grandfather began in 1868. Since its humble beginnings, Ratan has been responsible for India’s first steel mill, luxury hotel, and domestic airline.
“I think the one thing the family has done is it created a lot of industries in the early days, prior to independence, which were national industries,” Tata said in a rare interview with CNN’s Sara Sidner in 2011. “And then donated the majority of it away through charity gifts. And that has been carried on by their successors over the years.
Tata took over as chairman in 1991, the same year that India implemented major economic changes, including weakening the rupee, in order to open up its economy to the outside world. Ratan, too, expanded its horizons as India did.
Ratan Tata, Indian Tycoon Who Took His Empire Global, Dead At 86
In 2000, the group paid $432 million to British manufacturer Tetley, which owns one of the world’s top tea brands. Seven years later, Tata Steel won the $12.1 billion struggle for control of Corus, a British steel manufacturer.
Ratan stepped down as global chairman in 2012 and became chairman emeritus of the holding firm Ratan Sons before his death. Since stepping away from his day-to-day duties, the billionaire has dedicated himself to helping the lives of India’s many stray animals.
SOURCE | AP
