Ratan Tata, the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, turned 84 today. Born December 28, 1937, he shares his birthday with late industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani.
One of the greatest philanthropists, Ratan Tata is also among the most respected business tycoons in the country. Interestingly, he is also an avid user of Instagram and more often than not, his posts create a buzz among people.
On his birthday, here are a few facts about Ratan Tata:
- Ratan Tata was born on 28 December, 1937 to Naval and Sooni Tata. His father Naval Tata was the adopted grandson of Jamsetji Tata, who was the founder of the Tata Group.
- He shares his birthday with former finance minister Arun Jaitley and late industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani.
- The Tata scion was raised by his grandmother after his parents separated when he was just 10 years old.
- In 1961, Ratan Tata started his first job at Tata Steel; his work included shovelling limestone and managing the blast furnace.
- In 1962, he earned a B.Arch. degree from Cornell and late in the same year, he worked briefly with Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles before coming back to India.
- In 1975, Ratan Tata also completed the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.
- In 1981, the Tata scion was named Chairman of Tata Industries.
- After he assumed the chairmanship of his company, Tata Motors acquired Jaguar Land Rover. Furthermore, Tata Steel acquired Corus and Tata Tea acquired Tetley. This helped the business conglomerate become a global company rather than a largely-India centric one.
- Apart from being a businessman, Ratan Tata is extremely fond of flying, he also became the first Indian to pilot an F-16 Falcon in the year 2007. He is also very fond of cars; his classic collection includes Jaguar XF-R, Mercedes Benz S-Class, Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes Benz 500 SL and Jaguar F-Type, among others.
- So far, the 84-year-old industrialist has been conferred with the Padma Bhushan (2000) and Padma Vibhushan (2008).