Ratan Naval Tata GBE[3] (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian businessman, invest

or, philanthropist and chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons. He was the chairman of Ta
ta Group, a Mumbai-based conglomerate from 1991 2012. He stepped down as the chair
man of Tata Group, on 28 December 2012 but continues as the chairman of the Grou
p's charitable trusts.[4]
Contents [hide]
1
Early life
2
Career
3
Board Memberships and Affiliations
4
Honours and awards
5
References
6
External links
Early life[edit]
Ratan Tata is the son of Naval Tata, who had been adopted from the family of a d
istant relative by Navajbai Tata after the death of her husband, Ratanji Tata. R
atan Tata's parents Naval and Sonoo separated in the mid-1940s when Ratan was te
n and his younger brother, Jimmy, was seven years old. Both he and his brother w
ere raised by their grandmother Navajbai Tata.[5] Ratan also has a step brother
Noel Tata from Naval Tata's second marriage to Simone Tata.Ratan began his schoo
ling in Mumbai at the Campion School and finished his secondary education at the
Cathedral and John Connon School.[6] He completed his B.S. in architecture with
structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Manage
ment Program from Harvard Business School in 1975.[7] Tata is a member of the Al
pha Sigma Phi fraternity.
Career[edit]
Tata began his career in the Tata group in 1961. He initially started on the sho
p floor of Tata Steel, shovelling limestone and handling the blast furnace.[8] I
n 1991, J. R. D. Tata stepped down as Chairman of Tata Sons, naming Ratan as his
successor.
Under his stewardship, Tata Tea acquired Tetley, Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Lan
d Rover and Tata Steel acquired Corus, which have turned Tata from a largely Ind
ia-centric company into a global business, with 65% revenues coming from abroad.
[9] He was instrumental in the development of Tata Nano.[citation needed]
Ratan Tata retired from all executive responsibility in the Tata group on 28 Dec
ember 2012, his 75th birthday, and he was succeeded by Cyrus Mistry, the 44-year
-old son of Pallonji Mistry and managing director of Shapoorji Pallonji Group.[1
0][11]
Ratan Tata has retired but he is still seen working. Recently, he invested his p
ersonal savings in Snapdeal- one of India's leading e-commerce website and in Ja
n 2016 made an undisclosed funding in Teabox, an online store selling premium In
dian Tea.[12] Ratan Tata has been making small investments in both early and lat
e stage companies in India. He has made INR 0.95 Cr in Ola Cabs[13] and INR 1 Cr
in Paytm.[14] Mr Tata is working closely with Jaguar Land Rover and some of the
new models launched by the British marquee have several inputs from Mr Tata.[15
] In April 2015, it was reported that Tata had acquired a stake in Chinese smart
phone startup Xiaomi, with specific terms undisclosed.[16]
Board Memberships and Affiliations[edit]
He is currently the chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons. He continues to serve as the
chairman of the main two Tata trusts Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and Sir Ratan Tata
Trust and their allied Trusts, which together hold 66% of shares in the group ho
lding company Tata Sons.
Ratan Tata has served in various capacities in organisations in India and abroad
. He is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry and the N

ational Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. He is on the jury panel of Pritzk

er Architecture Prize[17]
considered to be one of the world's premier architectu
re prizes.
Ratan Tata is a director on the boards of Alcoa Inc., Mondelez International[18]
and Board of Governors of the East-West Center. He is also a member of the Boar
d of Trustees of University of Southern California, Harvard Business School Boar
d of Dean's Advisors, X Prize[19] and Cornell University.
Ratan Tata is also a member of the Harvard Business School India Advisory Board
(IAB) since 2006, a member of the Board of Directors of Pepperdine University, a
nd previously a member of the Harvard Business School Asia-Pacific Advisory Boar
d (APAB) 2001-2006.
Honours and awards[edit]