Ratan Tata turns 85 today: A look his net worth, charities and more of the great philanthropist

In 1991, Ratan Tata took over as the chairman of the Tata Group.

At a time, when globalisation was a new concept in India, Ratan Tata took the lead with big acquisitions to take his group global.

Beginning with Tata Tea's acquisition of Tetley in 2000, he went on to acquire about 36 companies in just 9 years. The most noteworthy acquisitions to date in India have been the Tetley acquisition by Tata Tea, Tata Steel's takeover of Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus and the acquisition of British automobile major Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata Motors.

Ratan Tata’s net worth was estimated to be Rs 3,500 crore last year according to IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List. He was ranked as the 433rd richest person in the country, which could be surprising to know for many.  The reason behind his low ranking is the large-scale philanthropic work that he does through the trusts and charity institutions managed by Tata Group.

Ratanji Tata, the younger son of Jamsetji Tata was the main contributor to the charity work done by the Tata Group. He had willed a large part of his property for charitable purposes and in 1919 the Sir Ratan Tata Trust was established with a corpus of Rs 80 lakh. Today, Tata Trust exists as one of India’s oldest and most respected charity foundations.

Tata Sons are the principal promoter entity of Tata group companies and 66 percent equity shares of Tata Sons are held by philanthropic trusts, which support health, education, art and culture and other charities. Under Ratan Tata’s leadership, the Tata group has made a significant contribution towards alleviating India from contemporary issues in the field of healthcare and education among others.