Ratan Tata Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Ratan Naval Tata
Profession(s)	Industrialist, Investor, Philanthropist
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters– 177 cm in meters– 1.77 m in feet & inches– 5’ 10”
Eye Colour	Light Brown
Hair Colour	Gray
Personal Life
Date of Birth	28 December 1937 (Tuesday)
Age (as of 2022)	85 Years
Birthplace	Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India
Zodiac sign	Capricorn
Signature
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Mumbai, India
School	• Campion School, Mumbai • Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai
College/University	• Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA • Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Educational Qualification(s)	• B.S. degree in architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University, New York • Advanced Management Programme from Harvard Business School, 1975
Religion	Zoroastrianism
Ethnicity	Parsee (a small, tightly-knit Zoroastrian community, which originates from Persia) ^[1]The Guardian
Food Habit	Non-Vegetarian ^[2]The Telegraph
Address	Ratan Tata lives in a sea-facing three-storeyed house (designed by himself) in Mumbai’s Colaba region. ^[3]daily.bhaskar.com
Hobbies	Listening to old Hindi Songs, Painting, Driving, Flying Jet Planes, Playing the Piano, Reading, Playing with his pet dogs
Awards, Honours	• Padma Bhushan in 2000 • Padma Vibhushan in 2008 • Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in 2009 • Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2009 • Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun by the Government of Japan in 2012 • Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 2014 • Commander of the Legion of Honour by the Government of France in 2016 • In October 2022, he received ‘Sewa Ratna’ from the RSS-affiliated Sewa Bharti for his philanthropic pursuits. • In April 2023, Order of Australia (AO), Australia’s highest civilian honour, was presented to him for his efforts in strengthening the India-Australia bilateral relations. • On 19 August 2023, Maharashtra’s first Udyog Ratna award was presented to him by the Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar at his residence in Mumbai
Controversies	• In May 2006, Ratan Tata announced plans to manufacture a small car, the Nano, at Singur in West Bengal. After the announcement, he had to face protests from the local farmers who accused the state government of forcibly acquiring their land. In July 2006, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee joined forces with the protestors. In August 2008; however, Ratan Tata announced shifting the project to Gujarat, which was led by the then chief minister Narendra Modi. • In 2010, his name appeared in the ‘Nira Radia Tapes’ controversy. The controversy, which broke in November 2010, involved telephone conversations between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and various industrialists, politicians, journalists, and bureaucrats that were leaked to the press. One of the industrialists whom Radia had spoken to was Ratan Tata. Following the release of these tapes, Tata went to court; seeking a restraint on the media from carrying any more of such tapes.
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Unmarried
Affairs/Girlfriends	In an interview, when asked how many times he had been in love, he replied, “seriously, four times.” ^[4]The Economic Times
Family
Wife/Spouse	N/A
Children	None
Parents	Father– Naval Tata (businessman) Mother– Sooni Commissariat
Siblings	Brother(s)– Jimmy Tata (businessman), Noel Tata (half-brother) (businessman) Sister– None
Family Tree	Note: To know more about the Tata family, read our Tata Family Tree post.
Favourites
Businessmen	JRD Tata, Jean Riboud (the former chairman of the world’s leading oilfield services provider- Schlumberger)
Colour	White
Food	Masoor Dal cooked with lots of garlic, Mutton Pulao Dal, and Nut-rich baked custard ^[5]The Telegraph
Holiday Destination	California
Style Quotient
Car Collection	Ferrari California, Honda Civic, Land Rover Freelander, Maserati Quattroporte, Cadillac XLR, Mercedes Benz 500 SL, Chrysler Sebring, Mercedes Benz S-Class, Jaguar F-Type, Jaguar XF-R
Assets/Properties	for detailed information, click here
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	$291 billion (as in 2010) ^[6]Forbes

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ratan Tata

Is Ratan Tata a smoker? No. [7] The Guardian.

Ratan Tata does not consume alcohol, as reported by The Guardian.

Ratan Tata is a prominent figure in the history of Tata Group’s business. Despite being one of India’s most influential businessmen, he is renowned for his humble lifestyle and preference for solitude. The words frequently associated with Ratan Tata are ‘reserved’ and ‘introverted.’

Over the course of his 21-year tenure as the Chairman of Tata Group (1991-2012), revenues experienced a remarkable growth of more than 40-fold, while profit multiplied by over 50 times.

Ratan Tata can be seen as a serendipitous millionaire, as he has stumbled upon great wealth by chance. Despite being a remarkable intruder in the business world and leading one of India’s largest conglomerates, he chooses to live an unremarkable life, avoiding the glare of the media. This unassuming Indian business magnate prefers to personally drive a Tata sedan to his workplace.

Ratan Tata comes from a family that possessed all except for offspring. The Tata Family, traditionally comprised of Parsee priests, gained prominence when Jamsetji Tata launched a textile mill in 1868. Notably, this mill provided employees with pensions and compensation for accidents, features that were unheard of in the Indian business realm at that time. In the late 1800s, Jamsetji Tata established a Textile Mill.

Despite the fact that the Tatas had established a powerful business by 1971, the family was facing a shortage of successors.

Naval H Tatas, Ratan’s father, was born into a regular family in Surat. Unfortunately, his parents passed away when he was very young, leaving him to be raised in an orphanage. However, Naval’s life took a fortunate turn when he was adopted at the age of 13 by Lady Navajbai Tata, a strong-willed matriarch who was childless and widowed at 40. Naval went on to achieve great success and became the deputy chairman of the Tata Group. In the picture, Ratan Tata can be seen standing on the right side, accompanied by his father Naval on the left side, and his half brother Noel in the center.

Ratan’s lineage can be traced back to the Tata family through both his maternal grandparents. His biological maternal grandmother, who was the sister of Hirabai Tata (wife of the group’s founder Jamsetji Tata), confirms his connection to the Tatas. Additionally, his biological grandfather, Hormusji Tata, also belonged to the larger Tata Family.

Ratan Tata’s childhood was a far cry from his current ordinary lifestyle. Growing up in Tata Palace, a magnificent white Baroque revival-style structure located in the heart of Mumbai, he enjoyed a life of luxury. With a crew of 50 servants at his disposal, Ratan’s upbringing was anything but ordinary. It is said that he even commuted to school in a Rolls-Royce.

played a pivotal role in Ratan’s upbringing, serving as a guiding force in shaping his morals and principles. He expressed his gratitude towards her in an interview, acknowledging the significant impact she had on his life. Ratan expressed his indebtedness to his grandmother for instilling in him and his brother the virtues she believed to be essential. Her profound influence extended beyond molding his values; it also influenced his perspective and approach towards various aspects of life.

Ratan Tata’s strong interest in America prompted him to pursue a degree in architecture at Cornell University. During his time in the US, he extensively explored the country and worked as a dishwasher to support himself financially. An infrequently seen photograph from his younger days captures Ratan Tata during his voyage to the United States.

During an interview, Ratan openly confessed to having developed feelings for a young American woman. Although he acknowledged having fallen in love multiple times, he considered his connection with this particular woman to be the closest. He shared that one of the most impactful experiences in his life took place while he was working in the United States. Unfortunately, he and his partner were unable to marry because he had to return to India while she planned to follow him. Regrettably, during that period, an Indo-Chinese conflict arose, which the United States perceived as a significant war between India and China in the snowy and uninhabited region of the Himalayas. Consequently, Ratan’s partner decided against joining him in India, and they eventually tied the knot in the United States.

In 1961, Ratan Tata became a part of Tata Group and began his journey at Tata Steel. His initial role involved shoveling limestone and managing blast furnace operations. On the shop floor of TELCO, now recognized as TATA Motors, one could witness Ratan Tata and JRD Tata working side by side.

Due to his pragmatic business acumen, Ratan was appointed Chairman of Tata Group in March 1991 after JRD Tata chose him as his successor upon stepping down as chairman of Tata Sons.

Tata Group, under his leadership, transformed into a global conglomerate, successfully overseeing the acquisitions of Tetley by Tata Tea, Jaguar Land Rover by Tata Motors, and Corus by Tata Steel.

Ratan Tata had already gifted India its first indigenous car, the Tata Indica, in 1998, before the introduction of the Nano Car in 2008. In an Instagram post, he shared the story of how India’s first homegrown car was born. Despite being told that it was impossible to create without a joint venture or partnership with an international company, and facing the inevitability of failure, we decided to proceed anyway. Along the way, we faced numerous technical obstacles and gained valuable insights. Breaking new ground proved to be an extraordinary journey, filled with moments where we could have given up. However, we persisted, tackling each issue that arose, and ultimately unveiled the Tata Indica with Ratan Tata present to grace the event.

During Ratan Tata’s tenure at Tata Group, he introduced a retirement policy that established specific retirement ages for executive and nonexecutive directors. In an interview, he acknowledged that some individuals may consider 65, 70, or even 75 to be too young to retire. However, he firmly believed that it was unnecessary for others to dictate when someone should leave their job. Despite this belief, he implemented a retirement age policy at Tata, which previously did not have a mandated retirement age. This meant that individuals, including himself, had the freedom to continue working for as long as they desired.

Ratan Tata’s native language is Gujarati.

Ratan Tata displays a deep fondness for dogs and is the proud owner of two adorable pets, Maximus and Tito. Carrying on the tradition initiated by JRD Tata, the Bombay House, where Tata Sons’ Headquarters resides, continues to embrace stray dogs during rainy days. In fact, the Bombay House even provides a shelter for these stray canines. Ratan Tata devotes his precious time to nurturing a strong bond with his cherished furry companions.

The world’s cheapest car, priced at Rs 1 lakh, was launched on 23 March 2009. This dream car, known as the Tata Nano, became a reality.

On 8 February 2007, he made history as the inaugural Indian pilot to successfully fly the F-16, showcasing his exceptional training in aviation.

Despite being a professional architect, he has only designed two houses – one for his mother and another for his own beach-house along the Arabian Sea.

In terms of his closest friends, he specifically mentions two individuals – Amar Bose, who amassed a fortune through audio equipment, and Zubin Mehta, a fellow Mumbai Parsee residing in the United States.

Ratan Tata’s exceptional quality lies in his strong social conscience, prioritizing fairness over monetary gains, and his ownership stake in the Tata group being less than 1%.

The Indian Express reported that in September 2022, Ratan Tata, along with KT Thomas, former Supreme Court judge, and Kariya Munda, former Deputy Speaker, were appointed as trustees of the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES).