Ratan Naval Tata (born December 28, 1937, in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India) is the present Chairman of Tata Sons and therefore, Tata Group^[2], India's largest conglomerate founded by Jamsedji Tata and consolidated and expanded by later generations of his family. He is also the chairman of major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, The Indian Hotels Company and Tata Teleservices.

Ratan Tata was born into the famous Tata family, a prominent family belonging to the Parsi community. Ratan is the grandson of Tata group founder Jamsedji Tata. His childhood was troubled, with his parents separating in the mid-1940s when he was merely seven and his younger brother Jimmy was five years old. Their mother moved out and both Ratan and his brother were raised by their grandmother Lady Navajbai.

Ratan Tata completed his B.S. in architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975. ^[3] He is a part of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity. ^[4] He joined the Tata Group in December 1962, after turning down a job with IBM on the advice of JRD Tata. He was first sent to Jamshedpur to work at Tata Steel. He worked on the factory floor along with other blue-collar employees, shoveling limestone and handling the blast furnaces. ^[5] Ratan Tata, a shy man, rarely features in the society glossies, has lived for years in a book-crammed, dog-filled bachelor flat in Mumbai's Colaba district and is considered to be a gentleman extraordinaire. His simplicity and generosity have been the most important parameters of his life. ^[6][7]

Mr. Ratan Tata has a metallic blue Maserati and Ferrari California. ^[8] He sometimes likes to pilot his private Falcon Jet himself. ^[9] He has never been married. He is a dynamic and vibrant businessman and is considered as one of the best managers never compromising on ethics and customer care. ^[10]

He likes to wear Hermès ties and matching handkerchiefs.[3]

He is currently in the center of a Telecom Scandal along with his PR consultant Niira Radia.[4]

His share in the whole group is 1%, or a little less, valuing his personal holding at approximately US $1 Billion, if encashed.^{[citation needed]} 66% of the equity capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts endowed by members of the original Jameshedji family and the largest share is with Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry (18.5%). The biggest two of the owning trusts are the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust and the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (different Ratan Tata), which were created by the families of the sons of Jamshedji Tata. Ratan Tata is on the board of trustees of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and is the chairman of the board of trustees of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.^{[original research?]} Ratan Tata is also best known as the face behind changing India's automotive industry into global climate change era.

• "Question the unquestionable"
• "A promise is a promise" ^[11]

Ratan Tata serves in senior capacities in various organisations in India and he is a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry. Tata is on the board of governors of the East-West Center, the advisory board of RAND's Center for Asia Pacific Policy and serves on the program board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative. ^[12]

Ratan Tata's foreign affiliations include membership of the international advisory boards of the Mitsubishi Corporation, the American International Group, JP Morgan Chase and Booz Allen Hamilton. He is also a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation, University of Southern California and of his alma mater, Cornell University. ^{[13] [14]} He also serves as a board member on the Republic of South Africa's International Investment Council and is a member of the Asia-Pacific advisory committee for the New York Stock Exchange.

• On the occasion of India's 50th Republic Day on 26 January 2000, Ratan Tata was honored with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest decoration that may be awarded to a civilian. ^[12]
• In February 2004, Ratan Tata was conferred the title of honorary economic advisor to Hangzhou city in the Zhejiang province of China. ^[15]
• On August 30, 2005, it was announced that Ratan Tata was elected to the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, one of the leading research universities in the United States.
• In 2006 he received the FIRST Award for Responsible Capitalism. ^[16]
• In March 2006 Tata was honoured by Cornell University as the 26th Robert S. Hatfield Fellow in Economic Education, considered the highest honor the university awards to distinguished individuals from the corporate sector. ^[17]
• He was one of the recipients of the NASSCOM Global Leadership Awards 2008, given at a ceremony on February 14, 2008 in Mumbai. Ratan Tata accepted the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in 2007 on behalf of the Tata family. ^{[18] [19]}
• He was listed among the 25 most powerful people in business by Fortune magazine in November 2007.
• In May 2008 Mr Tata made it to the Time magazine's 2008 list of the World's 100 most influential people. Tata was hailed for unveiling his tiny Rs. One lakh car 'Nano'. ^[20]
• On 26 January 2008, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian decoration. ^[12]
• On 29 August 2008, the Government of Singapore conferred honorary citizenship on Ratan Tata, in recognition of his abiding business relationship with the island nation and his contribution to the growth of high-tech sectors in Singapore. Ratan Tata is the first Indian to receive this honor. ^[21]
• In 2009 he was appointed an honorary Knight Commander of the British Empire. ^[22]
• He has also been conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by the Ohio State University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick, and an honorary fellowship by the London School of Economics. ^[12] He has recently received an honorary Doctor of Law from the University of Cambridge. ^[23]
• In 2010, Ratan Tata was named one of the '50 People Who Matter 2010' ^[24] by the New Statesman magazine.
• Again in 2010, The Federation of Indo-Israeli Chambers of Commerce, on August 6, bestowed the 'Businessman of the Decade' honor upon Ratan Tata. ^[25]
• In 2010, he won the Legend in Leadership award from Yale. ^[26]
• In 2010, he has been named among the most powerful people in the world by Forbes in its this year’s list of 68 people "who matter". ^[27]
• In 2010, he joined BMB Group as an advisory board member.

• Tata Group
• Ratan Tata's profile on the Tata Website

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