15 Interesting Facts About Ratan Tata Which Prove That He Is The Real ¡®Ratan¡¯ Of India

Ratan Naval Tata is a well-known personality who needs no introduction. There isn¡¯t a single person in India who hasn¡¯t heard this name. Many entrepreneurs look up to him as an example. Even though he has a wealthy family, he never took power or wealth for granted.

Indian industrialist, philanthropist, and a former chairman of Tata Sons Ratan Tata is a big believer in the power of a CEO's thinking and attitude both make or break them. Under his guidance and supervision, Tata Motors was able to achieve the historic contract with Ford Motors.

Ratan Tata facts | Humans of Bombay/ Instagram

One of the topmost and popular businessmen in India, Ratan Tata also has many other aspects about him that are worth knowing. For his immeasurable contributions towards the national building, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Bhushan by the government of India. Today, as he turns 84, Here are some interesting facts about Ratan Tata, his personality and achievements that are worth knowing.

1. Childhood

Born in 1937, Ratan Tata's father Naval Tata was the adopted grandson of Jamsetji Tata. His mother's name was Sooni Tata. Ratan Tata is the great-grandson of Jamsetji Tata who founded the Tata Group. His parents got separated in 1948 when he was just 10. He was raised by his grandmother, Navajbai Tata.

2. He is unmarried

Ratan Tata facts | Twitter

Ratan Tata is unmarried. He has admitted that he came close to marrying four times, but could not go through with it for various reasons.

3. A scholar par excellence

Ratan Tata studied at the Campion School, Mumbai till the 8th class, followed by Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai and at Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and in 1955 graduated from Riverdale Country School in New York City.

Tata scion went to Cornell University to study architecture and structural engineering in 1959. Later in 1975, he pursued a management course from Harvard Business School, an institution which he has since endowed.

4. First job

Ratan Tata¡¯s first job was at Tata Steel which he took up in the year 1961. His first responsibility was to manage the blast furnace and shovel limestone.

5. Humble and down to earth

Ratan Tata rejected a job opportunity from IBM. Instead, he joined his family business by starting on the shop floor of Tata Steel.

6. Took the Tata group to soaring heights

Ratan Tata facts | BCCL

Becoming the Chairman of the Tata Group in 1991, he took the conglomerate to new heights and brought international recognition for the Tata Group. All this was possible through his pragmatic business skills.

Under his able leadership, the revenues of the Tata Group grew more than 40 times. The profits abounded by over 50 times. The company that made only $5.7 billion in 1991 made around $103 billion in 2016.

7. Championed some historical mergers

Ratan Tata accomplished some historical mergers for his company including Land Rover Jaguar with Tata Motors, Tetly with Tata Tea and Corus with Tata Steel. All these mergers played a significant role in the Tata Group¡¯s phenomenal growth.

8. Keen on keeping promises

Ratan Tata Facts | DNA India

In 2009, he envisioned the Tata Nano car, the cheapest car in India worth Rs 1 lakh. He delivered on his promise.

9. Aid to undergraduate students

The Tata Group, under his leadership, endowed a scholarship fund of $28 million towards Cornell University to provide aid to undergraduate students from India.

10. A skilled pilot

Ratan Tata loves flights and flying. He is a skilled pilot. Ratan Tata was the first Indian to pilot F-16 Falcon in 2007.

11. ... and a passionate car lover

Ratan Tata facts | AFP

The industrialist is known for his hardened love for cars. He is said to have a variety of cars like Ferrari California, Cadillac XLR, Land Rover Freelander, Chrysler Sebring, Honda Civic, Mercedes Benz S-Class, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes Benz 500 SL, Jaguar F-Type, Jaguar CFTR and many more cars.

12. Loves dogs so much

Ratan Tata facts | BCCL

Since the days of Jamsetji Tata, the Bombay House, the Headquarters of Tata Sons has a tradition of letting stray dogs in during rains. After its recent renovation, the Bombay house now has a kennel for stray dogs. This kennel is equipped with toys, play area, water and food. Continuing the tradition, Ratan Tata has an extreme love for these canines. He has two pet dogs that he takes care so fondly namely Tito and Maximus.

13. Donated $50 million to Harvard Business School

In 2010, Ratan Tata pooled up a sum of $50 million to construct an executive centre for the Harvard Business School from where he received his collegiate education. The hall was named Tata Hall.

14. An avid philanthropist

Ratan Tata Facts | AFP

He is not included in the list of billionaires or richest persons in the world because over 65% of the family¡¯s and the company¡¯s fortune is given away as charity. Surprised again? Hence, any profit made by the company doesn¡¯t impact Ratan Tata¡¯s personal financial statement and goes straight to charitable organizations.

Ratan Tata and his family are involved in philanthropic work since the company¡¯s establishment. He has a lot of contributions to the development of India through healthcare facilities, improving the education system and so on.

15. The well-being of employees

Apart from charity, the company ensures the betterment of its employees. They introduced a modern pension system, maternity leaves, medical facilities and much more for the benefit of all employees throughout India.

Ratan Tata Facts | Twitter

After the 26/11 attacks, Ratan Tata looked after its employees during the time when the hotel was dysfunctional by ensuring that the staff gets their paychecks throughout this time. He also compensated the employees at the railways, police stations, market vendors and even pedestrians.

Recently, Mumbai-based industrialist Ratan Tata travelled to Pune to meet an ailing former employee on January 4, 2021. Soon after his visit, the 83-year-old trended all over the internet after a photo of him interacting with the employee went viral.

Ratan Tata might not be the richest man but he definitely is the greatest man and winner of the hearts. He proved that being on the Forbes list doesn¡¯t make a person rich but actions definitely do.

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