Ratan Tata: A titan moves on

Ratan Tata, a gentle architecture student turned giant dealmaker, built Tata Group into a global conglomerate. He led Tata's renaissance with a slew of big acquisitions while unseating the old guard e

Oct 10, 2024, 18:10 IST8 min

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A family portrait of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata with cousin RD Tata and sons Ratan Tata & Dorab Tata at TATA Steel of India and South East Asia office in Jamshedpur, India. A portrait of Ratan Tata before the bust of Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata at Tata House, Mumbai, India.

Image by Indranil Bhoumik/Mint via Getty Images; Umesh Goswami/ India Today via Getty Images

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Ratan Tata (left) with his younger brother Jimmy & family pet in his schooldays in 1945.Ratan Tata during his time in Los Angeles in 1962, where he worked with Jones & Emmons.

Image by Courtesy Tata

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Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata presses a key on a laptop to list India"s largest software company, Tata Consultancy, on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange as TCS Managing Director S.Ramadorai (3L) looks on in Bombay, August 25, 2004. TCS leapt as much as 27 percent as the company made its stock market debut after staging the country"s biggest-ever initial public offering.

Image by Forbes

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Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Sons and Cyrus Mistry (right), Deputy Chairman of Tata Sons, meet with Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma (left) on December 22, 2011, in New Delhi, India. Mistry, who took charge of the Group from 2012 to 2016, was ousted after a fallout with Tata over issues like expansion and diversification.

Image by Raj K Raj/HT via Getty Images

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(Left) Ratan Tata was seen at Tata"s marquee Taj Mahal Palace Hotel on the day following the terrorist attack on the hotel in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. (Right) Ratan Tata, along with his staff, met at the renovated passage of the heritage wing of the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai on August 12, 2010, after the renovations following the terrorist attack.

Image by Manoj Patil/HT via Getty Images

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Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Motors, hands over keys of Tata Nano to its first owner, Ashok R. Vichare, a class one officer in Mumbai customs, on July 17, 2009, in Mumbai. Among the audacious projects that Tata helmed was this small car, aimed at providing vast

Image by Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint via Getty Images

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Tata Group chief Ratan Tata at the launch of Jaguar and Land Rover brands in Mumbai on June 28, 2009. Tata Group"s estimated $2.3 billion purchase of Ford-owned British marquee brands was the Indian automotive industry"s "a giant leap" moment.

Image by Bhaskar Paul/ India Today via Getty Images

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(L to R) B Mutharaman, Managing Director of Tata Steel Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Steel James Leng, Chairman of Corus and Philippe Varian, Chief Executive of Corus, shake hands during a photocall in central London, following the announcement that the Indian company would purchase Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus on October 20, 2006. The 4.3 billion pound ($8.04 billion) takeover bid for Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus Group, India"s largest ever, was expected to create the

Image by Toby Melville / Reuters

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Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group holds a glass of water from a Swach water filter during the product"s unveiling in Mumbai on December 7, 2009. Among Tata"s legacy of mass market innovation was this portable, replaceable filter-based purifier that uses low-cost natural ingredients, delivering safe drinking water, combating the rise of water-borne diseases.

Image by Manoj Patil/HT via Getty Images

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(Left) Ratan Tata greets Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee at the release of a commemorative postage stamp in honour of noted late Indian jurist Nani Palkhivala in Mumbai on January 16 2004. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh confers a Doctorate of Literature to Ratan Tata during the 66th Annual convocation of Tata Institute of Social Sciences at Deonar, Mumbai on May 6, 2006.

Image by Forbes