1,700 crore helicopter with a gift in the mansion will be sold
A shaky start Left to himself, Ratan Tata would probably have stayed on in the United States after training as an architect at Cornell University. But the son of deputy group chairman Naval Tata and the nephew of JRD Tata couldn't be allowed to work outside the group (he had an offer from IBM). In 1962, Ratan joined the family business, working on the Tata Steel shopfloor at Jamshedpur, just one of several thousand employees. He got his first independent assignment less than a decade later -- as director of National Radio and Electronics (Nelco), in 1971 -- but it was a mixed blessing. Nelco was in dire straits when Ratan came on board -- losses of 40% and barely 2% share of the consumer electronics market. Just when he turned it around, the Emergency was declared. A weak economy and labour issues compounded the problem and Nelco was quickly near collapse again. Ratan's next assignment was just as trouble-stricken. He was asked to turn around the sick Empress Mills. He did, but was refused the Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) investment required to make the textile unit competitive. Empress Mills floundered and was finally closed in 1986 (by which time the infamous Mumbai textile workers' strike had also taken its toll). The two 'failures' haunted Ratan for decades. His track record was suspect, he was jinxed, said his baiters. "My first directorship was that of Nelco and the status of that company has forever been held against me. No one wanted to see that Nelco did become profitable, that it went from a 2% market share to a 25% market share," Tata said several years later. The attacks became more vicious after 1981, when JRD stepped down as Tata Industries chairman, naming Ratan his successor -- in one leap, Ratan had moved to the head of the queue for eventual leadership of the entire Tata Group, and that was completely unacceptable to many. So much so, that at one Tata Sons meeting, when Nelco's losses were being blamed on Ratan (although he came to the company much later), JRD had to step in and deflect the criticism. Click NEXT to read on . . .Ta-Ta, Ratan: A tribute to an iconic IndianPowered by
A German volunteer, Mrs Khan, holds a baby who was abandoned because it was born with deformed armsTake the destitute women's home at Karachi's fashionable Clifton seafront. The two-acre marble-and-onyx mansion has over a dozen chandeliered bedrooms, each with a half-dozen carved walnut beds. The closets spill over with surplus clothes.
As it happened, Palkhivala's political views and Mody's clashes within the group worked against them. Mody, though, continued to be a thorn in the flesh of both JRD and Ratan. His battles with Ratan were loud, acrimonious and conducted in full public view, which went against the ethos of this low-key business house -- an inside joke at the time was that Russi Mody had become Rude-i Mody. JRD finally dismissed him in 1993.
It is the largest Indian multinational conglomerate; more than 65% of the group's income comes from overseas and it has 98 operating companies (28 listed) spread across 56 countries in six continents. In the past decade -- the decade that marked the glorious years of Ratan Tata -- nearly $18 billion was shelled out to acquire 22 companies worldwide, including Tetley Tea and Corus Steel in the UK, New York's Pierre Hotel and Jaguar Land Rover. The Tata Group includes India's largest private steel company, the biggest auto manufacturer and the largest IT outsourcing firm. "Ratan Tata outperformed JRD. He toppled people as strong as Russi Mody, thought out of the box and came up with path-breaking concepts like the Nano," says Bala V Balachandran, faculty member at Kellogg School of Management, and dean of the Great Lakes Institute of Management. Not bad going for a man who was once likened to the clown in a circus (by his loudest detractor, Russi Mody). For Tata's successor -- whoever that turns out to be -- the bar's been raised sky high. "Tata's job is the most difficult one in the country today. Whoever runs the Tata Group has to provide strategic leadership, direction and inputs on multiple businesses, which is hugely challenging," says Rajeev Gupta, managing director of private equity firm Carlyle India. The new chairman may be relieved of the responsibility of running individual companies, but he or she will have to head a team of extraordinarily talented and able leaders. Not only will the heir have to ensure continuation of the group's growth momentum, but also provide the direction and vision for future growth. It's not an easy task. But then, nor was Tata's.Click NEXT to read on . . .Ta-Ta, Ratan: A tribute to an iconic IndianPowered by
A German volunteer, Mrs Khan, holds a baby who was abandoned because it was born with deformed armsTake the destitute women's home at Karachi's fashionable Clifton seafront. The two-acre marble-and-onyx mansion has over a dozen chandeliered bedrooms, each with a half-dozen carved walnut beds. The closets spill over with surplus clothes.
As it happened, Palkhivala's political views and Mody's clashes within the group worked against them. Mody, though, continued to be a thorn in the flesh of both JRD and Ratan. His battles with Ratan were loud, acrimonious and conducted in full public view, which went against the ethos of this low-key business house -- an inside joke at the time was that Russi Mody had become Rude-i Mody. JRD finally dismissed him in 1993.
It is the largest Indian multinational conglomerate; more than 65% of the group's income comes from overseas and it has 98 operating companies (28 listed) spread across 56 countries in six continents. In the past decade -- the decade that marked the glorious years of Ratan Tata -- nearly $18 billion was shelled out to acquire 22 companies worldwide, including Tetley Tea and Corus Steel in the UK, New York's Pierre Hotel and Jaguar Land Rover. The Tata Group includes India's largest private steel company, the biggest auto manufacturer and the largest IT outsourcing firm. "Ratan Tata outperformed JRD. He toppled people as strong as Russi Mody, thought out of the box and came up with path-breaking concepts like the Nano," says Bala V Balachandran, faculty member at Kellogg School of Management, and dean of the Great Lakes Institute of Management. Not bad going for a man who was once likened to the clown in a circus (by his loudest detractor, Russi Mody). For Tata's successor -- whoever that turns out to be -- the bar's been raised sky high. "Tata's job is the most difficult one in the country today. Whoever runs the Tata Group has to provide strategic leadership, direction and inputs on multiple businesses, which is hugely challenging," says Rajeev Gupta, managing director of private equity firm Carlyle India. The new chairman may be relieved of the responsibility of running individual companies, but he or she will have to head a team of extraordinarily talented and able leaders. Not only will the heir have to ensure continuation of the group's growth momentum, but also provide the direction and vision for future growth. It's not an easy task. But then, nor was Tata's.Click NEXT to read on . . .Ta-Ta, Ratan: A tribute to an iconic IndianPowered by
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