Peter Casey, author of The Story of Tata, described Tata as a “modest, reserved and even shy man” who had a “stately calm” about him and a “fierce discipline”.
He was drawn into a rare unsavoury controversy in 2016, when his successor as Tata Sons chairman, Cyrus Mistry, was ousted from the role, sparking a bitter management feud. Mistry died in a car crash in 2022.
The business tycoon also had a lighter side to him. His love for fast cars and planes was well-known – the Tata group website describes these as some of his “enduring passions”.
Tata was also a scuba diving enthusiast, a hobby that fizzled with age “as his ears could take the pressure no more”.
He was also a dog lover and fondly remembered the many pets who gave him company over the decades.
“My love for dogs as pets is ever strong and will continue for as long as I live,” the industrialist said in a 2021 interview.
“There is an indescribable sadness every time one of my pets passes away and I resolve I cannot go through another parting of that nature. And yet, two-three years down the road, my home becomes too empty and too quiet for me to live without them, so there is another dog that gets my affection and attention, just like the last one,” he said.
He was also often praised for his simplicity. In 2022, a video of him travelling in a Nano car – one of the world’s cheapest cars, now mostly remembered as one of Tata’s failed dreams – went viral on social media.
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