Tata family
Jamsetji Tata, born in Navsari, Gujarat, founded a private trading firm in Bombay in 1868 with roughly Rs 21,000 in capital, initially trading cotton and other commodities. He laid the groundwork for a steel plant and a hydroelectric scheme before his death in 1904; his son Dorabji Tata carried both forward, founding Tata Steel in 1907 and opening the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in 1903.
How the fortune was built
Across generations — Dorabji, then J.R.D., then Ratan Tata — the group grew from textiles into steel, hospitality, power, and aviation. Ratan Tata's 1991–2012 chairmanship consolidated the group's cross-holdings and took it global, acquiring Tetley Tea (2000), Corus Steel (2007), and Jaguar Land Rover (2008), while Tata Consultancy Services grew into one of the world's largest IT-services firms. Tata Sons now oversees roughly 30 operating companies with group revenue reported around $180 billion.
Where the family invests today
Tata Sons is majority-owned (about two-thirds) by the philanthropic Tata Trusts, which direct dividends toward health, education, and rural development rather than conventional investing. The group's financial-services arm, Tata Capital, listed on Indian exchanges in 2025. Separately, Ratan Tata built a prolific personal angel-investing portfolio after retiring in 2012 — reportedly 50-plus startups including Ola, Ola Electric, Paytm, and Urban Company — before his death in October 2024.
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