Ratan Tata, Conglomerate Patriarch, Dies at 86 With No Successor

  • He ‘imagined big’ as chairman of Tata Sons, led JLR buyout
  • Tata had no children and no heir apparent to lead Tata Trusts

Ratan Tata

Photographer: Harold Cunningham/Getty Images
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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.

His death was announced in a statement by Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran on Wednesday. Tata, who never married and had no children, was chairman of the business house for more than two decades beginning in 1991 — a period marked by rapid expansion. The group now operates in over 100 countries and posted $165 billion in annual revenue.