Ratan Tata's Biography

He was born on December 28, 1938.

Ratan Tata gained a bachelor of science degree in architecture from Cornell University in 1962.

He worked briefly with the architects Jones and Emmons in the USA before working at various companies in India, rising to director-in-charge of The National Radio & Electronics Co. Limited (Nelco) in 1971.

In 1981, Ratan Tata was appointed chairman of Tata Industries Limited, and ten years later became chairman of Tata Sons Limited after being nominated by his uncle, JRD Tata.

Ratan Tata was scheduled to retire as chairman of Tata Sons on December 28th 2012.

The Tata Group

The Tata Group was founded in the 1870s by Ratan's great-grandfather, Jamsetji Tata. It kicked off with a textile mill in central India.

The Tata Group grew to encompass around 100 companies including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Tata Tea, which purchased the famous UK-based Tetley in 2000.

Much of its growth came under Ratan Tata, notably taking over the giant steelmaker Corus with a £5.75bn bid in 2006.

Ratan Tata's life outside The Tata Group

Ratan Tata's numerous philanthropic and charity commitments include being on the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation and the Programme Board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's India AIDS Initiative.

Ratan Tata is single, and lives with his two dogs.

He flies his own Falcon 2000 business jet.

Ratan Tata is Parsi.