Did You Know: Ratan Tata Wrote His First Resume On An Electric Typewriter At IBM Office To Give To JRD Tata?

In the 1960s, just when Ratan Tata was ready to settle down in Los Angeles after completing his architecture and structural engineering degree from Cornell University, he had to return to India when his grandmother Navajbai¡¯s health deteriorated.

And then came another twist in the tale for him, one that led him to embark upon his journey with the Tata group.

When Ratan Tata Used IBM Office's Typewriter For His First Resume

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When he was back in India, Mr Tata had a job offer from IBM. But at that time, Tata Group¡¯s then chairman JRD Tata wasn¡¯t pleased about it.

¡°He called me one day and he said you can¡¯t be here in India and working for IBM. I was in [the IBM office] and I remember he asked me for a resume, which I didn¡¯t have. The (IBM) office had electric typewriters so I sat one evening and typed out a resume on their typewriter and gave it to him¡±, Ratan Tata revealed.

That was how, in 1962, Ratan Tata secured a job with Tata Industries, the promoter company of the group. He went on to spend six months at Telco, now called Tata Motors, before joining Tisco, now Tata Steel, in 1963.

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Also Read: Inside Tata Group's 99-Year-Old Headquarters, The Bombay House

Did Ratan Tata Try To Sell TCS To IBM?

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Tata Group's late former chairman Cyrus Mistry alleged in 2016 that Ratan Tata once tried to sell TCS to IBM and his "ego" led to bad business decisions like the Corus acquisition at double the original cost.

As per PTI, Mistry's office's five-page letter mentioned that Ratan Tata, who took over as the interim chairman following Mistry's controversial dismissal from the group on October 24, had once tried to sell the group's crown jewel TCS to global giant IBM.

Without giving the timelines, the letter claimed the then CEO FC Kohli's illness had prevented JRD Tata from going ahead with Ratan Tata's proposal.

"Ratan Tata was then heading Tata Industries' joint venture with IBM and had approached JRD Tata with a proposal from IBM to buy out TCS. JRD refused to discuss the deal because Kohli was still recovering in the hospital," the letter read.

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However, Kohli, considered the doyen of the domestic software industry, flatly refused the proposal saying "TCS has a bright future and the group should not sell the company."

"JRD turned down the offer, demonstrating true vision. But it was also a near-death experience for TCS at the hands of Ratan Tata," the letter had claimed.

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