Ratan Tata, the businessman who inherited one of India’s oldest conglomerates and transformed it through a string of eye-catching deals into a global empire, has died. He was 86. In 2008, he bought Jaguar Land Rover from Ford.

Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran announced his death in a statement, calling Tata “a truly uncommon leader whose immeasurable contributions have shaped not only the Tata Group but also the very fabric of our nation.”

The Tata group’s origins date back to 1868, when Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata set up a trading company that later diversified into cotton mills, steel plants, and hotels. The Tatas belong to the Parsi Zoroastrian community, which fled religious persecution in Persia centuries ago before finding refuge in western India.

Ratan Tata never married and had no children. His death leaves a vacuum at the helm of the powerful Tata Trusts, a collective of charities. These philanthropic trusts own about 66% of Tata Sons, which in turn controls all the major listed Tata firms. A member of the Tata family has traditionally led Tata Trusts; it wields control over the conglomerate through its holding in Tata Sons.

Expansion

As chairman for over two decades, beginning in 1991, Tata rapidly expanded the 156-year-old business house. It now has operations in more than 100 countries and reported $165 billion in revenue for the fiscal year that ended in March 2024.

Through more than two dozen listed firms, the conglomerate makes products ranging from coffee and cars to salt and software, runs airlines, and introduced India’s first super app. It has also partnered with Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing for a $11 billion chip fabrication plant in India and is said to be planning an iPhone assembly plant.

Under Tata’s stewardship, the conglomerate embarked on an expansion drive that turned the tables on India’s colonial past. It snapped up iconic British assets, including steelmaker Corus Group Plc. in 2007 and luxury automakers Jaguar and Land Rover in 2008. It also bought Tetley, the world’s second-largest tea company.

Tata was at the group’s helm for 21 years in his first stint and retired in 2012. He returned as interim chief for a few months in 2016 following the ouster of his successor, Cyrus Mistry. He also found himself at the center of intense battles for control of the conglomerate not once but twice in his career.

When he took over as chairman in 1991, the first battle pitted him against longtime executives running fiefdoms within the conglomerate under his predecessor. The second, in 2016, four years after his retirement, was about preserving his legacy as Mistry sought to reduce debt. Tata won both.

Challenges on the road…

While the acquisition spree helped bring the conglomerate’s geographical footprint to an entirely new level, it also set up several challenges. The 2008 financial crisis triggered a broad slide in commodity prices, while a steel glut fueled by an increase in Chinese exports depressed prices, sparking criticism that Tata had overpaid to acquire Corus. Tata Steel has pared its European operations in recent years in the face of slumping demand and high-cost structures and slashed thousands of jobs in the continent.

The business tycoon also had a lighter side. His love for fast cars and planes was well-known, and the Tata group itself describes these as some of its enduring passions, hence the acquisition of JLR and, recently, Air India.

Jaguar Land Rover also hit a rough patch soon after Tata acquired it. The financial crisis in 2088 and beyond pummeled demand for luxury cars and the company’s ability to access credit.

While the Tata Group managed to turn around the former English car manufacturing group within a couple of years, it soon faced other headwinds, from slumping demand in China to Brexit. The pandemic and chip shortage have affected JLR in recent years.

Now, the car manufacturer has to reorganize itself. A few years ago, Jaguar vowed to sell only electric cars in 2025 and move up to the high-luxury segment. Recently, it has softened these high expectations a little bit. The whole car world is curious about what will happen with Jaguar in the years to come.

Fortunately, the other brands in the JLR group are performing far better. They are also following a more prudent path into electrification and are also betting on hybrid technology to make the switch. With the benefits Land Rover makes, JLR can still afford itself the Jaguar brand. For now…

Tata oversaw another auto-related setback, the failure of the Nano microcar. He wanted to build a cheap automobile that would retail for 100,000 rupees (a bit more than €1,000), targeted at the millions of Indians who typically used motorcycles to get around and transport their families.

Production of the Nano ended in 2018, about ten years after its unveiling, amid a lack of demand due to early quality and safety concerns and an important part of the potential public that hated to be seen in a car like the Nano.

…and in the air

Perhaps the final business battle Tata fought was his most gratifying. In 2021, Tata Sons regained control of Air India, the nation’s flagship carrier, almost 90 years after the state took it over.

Heavily indebted and a shadow of its former glory — Salvador Dali once designed ashtrays as gifts for the airline’s guests — the deal meant Tata could welcome home to the group an airline initially founded by his mentor, JRD Tata. “He was my greatest mentor,” Ratan Tata said in many interviews. “He was like a father and a brother to me, and not enough has been said about that.”