Ratan Tata
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
A profile
He remains India's most respected industrialist, passionately involved in new businesses despite stepping down as chairman of the Rs.6 lakh crore salt-to-software Tata Group in December 2012.
In June 2014 he took up the mantle of chief adviser to AirAsia India, a new venture the Malaysian airline has set up with Tata, and tied up with Singapore Airlines to launch Vistara, a new carrier, and invested in e-commerce firm Snapdeal and online jewellery retailer Bluestone in his personal capacity. As chairman of four philanthropic Tata trusts, he oversees the group's contribution to charity, where it offered Rs.310 crore for the underprivileged in 2012-13.
New power centre
South Mumbai's Bakhtawar building in Colaba, where Ratan Tata has set up his office.
Confession of the yearbb
That it was a mistake to pitch Nano as the world's cheapest car; it should have targeted the two-wheeler owner with "an all-weather, safe form of affordable transportation"pitch.
Must Love dogs
Known for being a dog-lover, he feeds strays in his Colaba neighbourhood regularly.
Ahead of the curve
"I hate to see corporations disappearing from the scene because someone has cashed out, because managers are unable to escape their comfort zones, or because boards have not been sufficiently nimble to change with the times."
Personal life
From his lecture in 2020
(Ratan Tata with his grandmother Photo- Humans of Bombay-Facebook)
From: Bloomberg, ’Almost got married' after college, says Ratan Tata, February 13, 2020:The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has divulged details about his personal life and stated that he "fell in love and almost got married" after college. Speaking to 'Humans of Bombay' on Facebook, the Tata Trusts chairman recalled some of his life's moments and credited his grandmother for teaching him to retain dignity at all costs.
"I had a happy childhood, but as my brother and I got older, we faced a fair bit of ragging and personal discomfort because of our parent’s divorce, which in those days wasn’t as common as it is today," the top industrialist said in the first of apparently a three-part series.
His parents, Naval Tata and Sooni, got separated when he was young and was raised by his grandmother, Navajbai.
The 82-year-old business magnate also talked about the differences he had with his father. "I wanted to learn to play the violin, my father insisted on the piano. I wanted to go to college in the US, he insisted on the UK. I wanted to be an architect, he insisted on me becoming an engineer. If it weren’t for my grandmother, I wouldn’t have ended up at Cornell University in the US," he said.
Tata mentioned that he switched majors and graduated with a degree in architecture. "My father was quite upset and there was a fair bit of rancour, but I was finally my own, independent person in college, and it was my grandmother who taught me that courage to speak up can also be soft and dignified," he added.
On his love life, the businessman said that "it was in LA (Los Angeles) that" he "fell in love and almost got married". "But at the same time I had made the decision to move back at least temporarily since I had been away from my grandmother who wasn’t keeping too well for almost 7 years. So I came back to visit her and thought that the person I wanted to marry would come to India with me, but because of the 1962 Indo-China war her parent’s weren’t okay with her making the move anymore, and the relationship fell apart," he further stated.
The bachelor industrialist had earlier revealed in an interview that he came close to getting married four times. "I came seriously close to getting married four times and each time I backed off in fear or for one reason or another. Each occasion was different, but in hindsight when I look at the people involved; it wasn’t a bad thing what I did. I think it may have been more complex had the marriage taken place," he had said.
The Mistry connection
[ From the archives of the Times of India]
Reeba Zachariah TNN
There’s an interesting story about how the Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry family checked into Tata Sons. JRD Tata’s youngest brother Dorab is said to have sold his shareholding in Tata Sons to the Mistrys in a fit of anger. The entire 18.4% stake is now held equally through Sterling Investments Corp and Cyrus Investments, making the Mistry family the largest single shareholder in Tata Sons. Cyrus Investments is largely owned by Cyrus Mistry.
The Mistrys are among the 10 richest families in India with a net worth of $7.6 billion (about Rs 38,000 crore), according to Forbes. They are also described as the richest family in Ireland (Pallonji Mistry and his sons are Irish nationals). Ties not split by rival biz interests E xcept group, for Forbes one & company Co, none in of the the companies in the SP Group is listed. Although the Tatas are the largest business group in India, Ratan Tata’s personal Tata Sons shareholding (of less than 1%) is a fraction of that of the Mistrys.
However, the two families have maintained cordial relations and over the years, even forged marital ties. Ratan Tata's half brother, Noel Tata is married to Pallonji's daughter, Aloo. Even in times of trouble, the Mistry family has come to the aid of the Tatas. When the Tatas wanted to divest their holding in Forbes & Company, the Mistry family stepped in. Even earlier, when the Tatas put their stake in ACC on the block, the Mistrys were interested, but Gujarat Ambuja made a better offer. Though the Tatas and Mistrys compete in many areas, such as housing and water purifiers, their relations have not been spoilt by business interests.
Apart from Tata Sons, Mistry family also owns shares of Tata Investment Corp and TCS. When Mistry family acquired Tata Sons' stake, no one could have imagined that one day a Mistry family member would become chairman of the Tata Group. When Pallonji Mistry stepped down as director after retirement in 2005, he left his seat vacant for his younger son, Cyrus. While that came as a surprise for many, announcement of Cyrus as Ratan Tata's successor came as a bolt from the blue.
2000
India Today Nandini Vaish
December 19, 2008
In 2000,Tata Tea took over Tetley Tea, the company which was twice Tata Tea’s size and had introduced the world to tea bags, for £271 million via a leverage buyout. The move turned the company into the world’s second-largest tea marketer. While Tata was strong on the production front, Tetley’s strengths lay in marketing. At the time of acquisition,The two companies were merged a year later. The Tetley brand name would give Tata Tea access to markets in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the CIS countries, said the company’s vicechairman, R.K. Krishna Kumar,whose mandate for the acquisition was simple: to eliminate the competition, Unilever. “Tata Tea’s transformation is an eloquent example of the group becoming market-focused and consumer centric”(India Today, February 2003).
2006
The year 2006 proved to be the ‘year of buyouts’ by Indian companies. In October 2006, Tata Steel acquired Anglo-Dutch firm Corus Group for Rs 60,000 crore.
“Many thought our bid was audacious but this was really the commencement of our global strategy,” Ratan Tata said at a press conference. “Tata’s victory symbolises the new confidence of Indian corporates and its growing global ambitions.” (India Today, February 2007) In line with this, the group acquired automaker Ford’s Jaguar and Land Rover car brands for $2.3 billion in March 2008, amid severe opposition from Jaguar’s dealers in the UK and US which expressed concern about selling a luxury brand to an Indian company.
2008
India Today December 29, 2008
In October 2008, when the world was feeling the meltdown heat, Tata Consultancy Services acquired BPO Citigroup Global Services for $505 million which was on the block for almost a year. A valuation nearly 50 per cent lower was what finally clinched the deal.
