The Tatas

The Tatas:  The nineteenth century was a time of global enterprise and innovation. While John D. Rockefeller was amassing immense wealth in the US to benefit the nation, a Parsi family with modest beginnings was achieving similar success in India. In 1822, a boy named Nusserwanji was born into a priestly family in Gujarat’s Navsari. From an early age, he recognized that his future lay beyond his village and moved to Bombay to start a business. What began as a cotton trading venture under Nusserwanji’s leadership was transformed by his son Jamsetji, born the same year as Rockefeller, into a diversified business empire. Jamsetji revived struggling textile mills, established an iron and steel company, envisioned a cutting-edge institute of higher education, and built a world-class hotel. Over the decades, his sons Dorabji and Ratanji, followed by the larger-than-life JRD and the more business-focused Ratan, continued to guide the Tata Group, which has since grown into a $110-billion empire. This is the story of the Tatas.