From Jamsetji Tata To N.Chandrasekaran: 7 People Who Have Headed The Tata Group Since Its Inception

It's been 154 years since the prestigious Tata group was founded in the year 1868. Over these years, the group has diversified into various fields, from steel, IT, infrastructure, auto, consumer and retail, financial services, aerospace, defence, tourism and travel, telecom and media, and trading and investment.

And in its 154 years of history, only seven people have had the privilege to head the Tata Group in different periods. Curious to know who they are?

From Ratan Tata to the late Cyrus Mistry, here's the list of people who have headed the Tata group over the years, since its inception in 1868.

1.Jamsetji Tata (1868每1904)

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Born on 3 March 1839 in Navsari, Jamsetji Tata was the one who founded the Tata group in 1868 as a textile mill in central India, at the age of 29. It is his vision which inspired the steel and power industries in India, set the foundation for technical education, and helped the country leapfrog into the ranks of industrialized nations.

From about 1880 to his death in 1904, Jamsetji was consumed by what has to be the three great ideas of his life: setting up an iron and steel company, generating hydroelectric power, and creating a world-class educational institution that would tutor Indians in the sciences.

2.Sir Dorabji Tata (1904每1932)

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By setting up Tata Steel and Tata Power, this elder son of Jamsetji Tata was instrumental in transforming his father's grand vision into reality. He also created the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, which is responsible for building the Tata tradition of philanthropy. He was the one who established the Tata Group as an industrial giant.

He was born on August 27, 1859, when his father, the founder of the Tata Group, was 20 years old. As per Tata＊s website, Sir Dorab's commitment to his father's vision and values was so strong that he staked his personal fortune to save the steel venture when, in 1924, it slipped into trouble. His business sense and audacity had seen the company undertaking a five-fold expansion programme in the post-World War I period.

3.Nowroji Saklatwala (1932每1938)

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Sir Nowroji Saklatvala became chairman of the Tata group in 1932, succeeding Sir Dorabji Tata. He was known for his vision and his desire to place employee welfare over everything else

He was a trusted lieutenant to Sir Dorabji Tata, and was passionate about labour welfare and sports. He was born on September 10, 1875, and belonged to a family that distinguished itself in industrial life, not only in India but also abroad. Though he was related to Sir Jamsetji Tata through his mother, Sir Nowroji started out as a Tata employee, as an apprentice in one of the mills on a pay of Rs 50 a month in 1889. However, his grasp of the work, his application and his understanding of industry dynamics impressed his seniors to such an extent that within a few years they asked him to helm the mills department.

Within a short time, word spread about Sir Nowroji's good work in the mills department and his knowledge of the industry and in 1917 he was made chairman of the Bombay Millowners' Association.

Within the Tata group, he came to be seen as a valuable lieutenant 每 a man who put the group before himself, who was not afraid to speak his mind or accept responsibilities. Along with Sir Dorabji Tata, the Chairman, and RD Tata, Sir Nowroji quietly guided the group＊s destiny. It did not come as a surprise when he was chosen to helm the Tata group after Sir Dorabji's death in 1932.

Also Read: Tata Steel May Exit UK If ?1.5 Billion Funding Denied

4.J. R. D. Tata (1938每1991)

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JRD Tata was the longest-serving chairman of the Tata group. He pioneered civil aviation in the subcontinent in 1932 when he launched Tata Airlines. But that was only one of many path-breaking achievements of JRD, who guided the destiny of the Tata group for more than half a century

Tata＊s website mentions that Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata came to represent an exalted idea of Indianness: progressive, benevolent, ethical and compassionate. JRD was known to commoners and kings.

He was born in Paris in 1904, to RD Tata, a business partner and relative of Jamsetji Tata, and his French wife Sooni.

What many don't know is that the Indian-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who perished in the Columbia space shuttle disaster, cited JRD and his pioneering airmail flights as her inspiration for taking up aeronautics.

5.Ratan Tata (1991每2012)

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From torchbearer to a transformer, Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata has guided the Tata group into a new age, and he has done it in his own distinctive style

There are a host of reasons why Ratan Naval Tata is worthy of admiration, none more so than for the way he has sailed through the high tide of his life as head of the Tata group, till 2012.

Born to Naval and Soonoo Tata on December 28, 1937, Ratan Tata and his younger brother, Jimmy, were brought up by their grandmother, Navajbai R Tata, in a baroque manor called Tata Palace in downtown Bombay [now Mumbai].

In March 1991, it is likely an understatement to say that Ratan Tata, who took over as chairman, was stepping into big shoes. More than 30 years later, it can be argued without favour or prejudice that Mr Tata managed to change the Tata group for the better, in a more substantial manner than any of the luminaries under whose care the organization evolved since its inception in 1868.

During his work years before 1991, Ratan Tata joined the Tata group as an assistant at Tata Industries in 1962. Later in the year, he spent six months training at the Jamshedpur plant of Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (now called Tata Motors).

In 1963, he moved to Tata Iron and Steel Company, or Tisco (now called Tata Steel), at its Jamshedpur facility for a training programme.

Then in 1965, he was appointed technical officer in Tisco＊s engineering division and in 1969 he worked as the Tata group＊s resident representative in Australia.

Next year, in 1970, he returned to India, and joined Tata Consultancy Services, then a software fledgling, for a short stint.

In 1971, he was named director-in-charge of National Radio and Electronics (better known as Nelco), an ailing electronics enterprise.

Then in 1974, he joined the board of Tata Sons as a director and the next year, he completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 1975.

Six years later, in 1981, he was appointed Chairman of Tata Industries; began the process of transforming it into a promoter of high-technology businesses.

Then during 1986-1989, Ratan Tata served as Chairman of Air India, the national carrier, and later, he took over from JRD Tata as Chairman of Tata Sons and Chairman of the Tata trusts in March 25, 1991.

From 1991 to 2012, he took key decisions such as the restructuring of the Tata group. high-profile Tata acquisitions, among them Tetley, Corus, Jaguar Land Rover, Brunner Mond, General Chemical Industrial Products and Daewoo, launching the Tata Nano, etc.

Ratan Tata again took over as Chairman for a brief period during 2016每2017.

6.Cyrus Mistry (2012每2016)

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Cyrus Mistry was appointed the sixth Chairman of Tata Sons in 2012. He was the son of Pallonji Mistry, the owner of Shapoorji Pallonji group and the biggest stakeholder in the Tata group, He was the second person outside the Tata family to head the group and was able to hold the position for just four years, one of the shortest tenures for a Tata group head. Cyrus Mistry was ousted as Tata Sons chairman on October 24, 2016, and was also removed subsequently as a director on the board of the holding company on February 6, 2017.

Relations were seen as amicable between Mistry and Ratan Tata, whom he had taken over charge from, till the former was removed as chairman of Tata Sons in October 2016.

Sadly, Cyrus Mistry died in a road accident last month on 4th September 2022, after his car rammed into a divider on a bridge in Maharashtra＊s Palghar district.

Also Read: How Tata Group Companies Are Helping Revive Air India

7.N.Chandrasekaran (2017每present)

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Born in 1963, Natarajan Chandrasekaran is Chairman of the board of Tata Sons, the holding company and promoter of Tata group. He joined the board of Tata Sons in October 2016 and was appointed Chairman in January 2017. He also chairs the boards of several group operating companies, including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Global Beverages, Indian Hotels Company and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) 〞 of which he was chief executive from 2009-17.

His appointment as Chairman followed a 30-year business career at TCS, which he joined from university. Chandrasekaran rose through the ranks at TCS to become CEO and managing

director of the leading global IT solutions and consulting firm. As per Tata's website, he is an avid photographer and a passionate long-distance marathon runner.

Also Read: Tata Technologies To Launch IPO In FY 2022-23

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