Ratan Tata

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Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in Bombay) is the present Chairman of the Tata Group, a leading Indian conglomerate established by earlier generations of his family. He would have been the richest Indian citizen had he and his family not decided to set up the Tata Foundation which, through varied and extensive programmes, sponsors a multitude of social causes.

[edit] Career

After receiving a degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering from Cornell University and completing the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1974-1975, Ratan received an offer of employment from IBM, but turned it down after J. R. D. Tata advised him to do so. He is also an alumnus of the Cathedral and John Connon School

In 1962, Ratan joined the family business. In 1991, he took over as group chairman from J.R.D. Tata, pushing out the old guard and ushering in younger managers. Since then, he has been instrumental in reshaping the fortunes of the conglomerate of India. The Tata Group has the largest market capitalisation in the Indian Share Market.

Under him Tata Consultancy Services went public and Tata Motors was listed in the New York Stock Exchange. His dream is to manufacture a car costing Rs 1 lakh (approx. US$2200) TimeAsia, June 12, 2006. In 1998, Tata Motors introduced his brainchild, the Tata Indica. Ratan retired from his executive post in 2003 after turning 65, as per the rules he set.

Mr. Tata was honoured by the Government of India with the Padma Bhushan on 26th January 2000, on the occasion of the 50th Republic Day of India. He serves in senior capacities in various organisations in India and he is a member of the central board of the Reserve Bank of India and of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry. His foreign affiliations include membership of the international advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Booz-Allen Hamilton Inc. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation, Ford Foundation and his alma mater, Cornell University.

He also serves on the International Investment Council set up by the president of the Republic of South Africa, the Asia-Pacific advisory committee to the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange, the board of governors of the East-West Center, the advisory board of RAND's Center for Asia Pacific Policy and the programme board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative. Mr. Tata was conferred the title of honorary economic advisor to Hangzhou city in the Zhejiang province of China in February 2004. He has also received a myriad awards.

[edit] Early years

Ratan was born into an old Parsi family in Mumbai (then Bombay), the first child of Soonoo & Naval Hormusji Tata, on December 28, 1937.

Ratan's childhood was troubled, his parents separating in the mid-1940s, when he was about seven and his younger brother Jimmy was five. His mother moved out, both Ratan and his brother stayed in Tata Palace, brought up by their grandmother Lady Navajbai.

Ratan was given two sick companies supposedly to train him. First Nelco, then ailing Central India Textiles. Central India was turned around, its accumulated losses were wiped out and it paid dividends for several years.