Ratan Tata, one of the most renowned Indian businessmen internationally and former chairman of the Tata Group, the largest conglomerate of companies in Indiadied this Wednesday at the age of 86, as confirmed by the Tata Group in a press release.
The tycoon, who was leading the Tata Group for more than two decadeshas died in a Mumbai hospital where he was receiving intensive care, according to the agency. Reuters.
He ran this business conglomerate composed of almost a hundred companies that operate in the engineering, communications and information systems, materials, services or energy sectors, among others. The industrial giant operates in America, Europe and Africa, in addition to Asia.
“It is with a deep sense of loss that we say goodbye to Ratan Naval Tata, a truly extraordinary leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation,” the conglomerate said in a statement.
“Ratan Tata was a visionary business leadera compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being,” wrote the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the social network X. “I am extremely saddened by his passing. My thoughts are with his family, friends and fans at this sad time.”
Shri Ratan Tata Ji was a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being. He provided stable leadership to one of India’s oldest and most prestigious business houses. At the same time, his contribution went far beyond the boardroom. He endeared… pic.twitter.com/p5NPcpBbBD
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 9, 2024
After graduating in architecture from Cornell University, Tata returned to India in 1962, the year in which he began working for the group that his great-grandfather had founded. founded in 1868 by Jamsetji Tata.
Tata worked in several Tata Group companies, including Telco (now Tata Motors Ltd TAMO.NS) and Tata Steel Ltd TISC.NS.
On the world map
In 1991, he took the reins of the conglomerate when his uncle JRD Tata resigned. The transfer occurred just as India launched several reforms that opened its economy to the world and marked the beginning of an era of high growth.
One of his first measures at the head of the Tata Group was the implementation of controlling the power of some heads of Tata Group companies, imposing retirement ages, promoting younger people to higher positions and increasing control over companies.
Tata founded telecommunications company Tata Teleservices TTML.NS in 1996 and took IT company Tata Consultancy Services TCS.NS public in 2004.
However, the group decided to expand beyond Indian borders and, led by Ratan Tata, grew internationally through a series of acquisitions. “Something we had never done before,” according to the Indian tycoon in an interview with the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2013.
The group bought the British tea company Tetley, in 2000, for 432 million dollars, as well as the Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus, in 2007, for 13,000 million dollars. This was the largest acquisition of a foreign company by an Indian company at that time.
Tata Motors later acquired British luxury car brands Jaguar y Land Rover de Ford Motor Co UN for a total of 2.3 billion dollars.
Ratan Tata, steps out of the company’s new “Nano” car during its launch on January 10, 2008. Reuters
Ratan Tata He never married and was known for his calm demeanorhis relatively modest lifestyle and his philanthropic work.
About two-thirds of the share capital of Tata Sons, the group’s holding company, is held by philanthropic trusts.
Controversies
His leadership at Tata was not without controversiesespecially a bitter public dispute after the company ousted Cyrus Mistry, a scion of the billionaire Shapoorji Pallonji clan, as chairman of Tata Sons in 2016.
The Tata Group said Mistry had failed to turn around underperforming businesses, while Mistry accused Ratan Tata, who was chairman emeritus of the conglomerate, of interfering and creating an alternative power center in the group.
After retiring from the Tata Group, Ratan Tata became known as leading investor in Indian startupsbacking a host of companies, including digital payments firm Paytm PAYT.NS , Ola Electric, a unit of transportation firm Ola, and home and beauty services provider Urban Company.
