AFPRatan Tata
NOS Nieuws•gisteren, 21:42
Ratan Tata, the Indian entrepreneur who turned the Tata Group into a billion-dollar company, has died at the age of 86. The conglomerate reports this a statement. Tata, who led the company for more than 20 years, was in intensive care in a hospital in Mumbai, Reuters news agency reported earlier today.
In 1991, Ratan Tata took over from industrialist JRD Tata, his uncle. There was a power struggle going on at the top of the company, but Ratan Tata got things moving in the same direction. He wanted to turn the somewhat old-fashioned Tata into a strong brand. They succeeded: in 2008, Business Week named Tata one of the ten most innovative companies in the world.
Tata Steel
Tata expanded the company, including through high-profile foreign acquisitions, into a conglomerate of more than a hundred companies. In the Netherlands, Tata Group is best known for its acquisition of the British-Dutch steel company Corus in 2007, which was a continuation of Hoogovens. Tata Group is the main shareholder of Tata Steel in IJmuiden.
Ratan Tata was very popular in India. He never married and was known for his quiet nature, relatively modest lifestyle and philanthropic work. In 2012, he resigned as chairman of Tata Group. He then became known as a prominent investor in Indian startups. In 2008, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award.
According to the current chairman of Tata Group, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, he was “an extraordinary leader whose immense contributions shaped not only the Tata Group but also the fabric of our nation”.
