The Business Bytes
TBB BUREAU
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 7, 2022
HarperCollins today announced that it has acquired rights to publish the authorized biography of legendary business figure Ratan N. Tata, who is counted among the most influential and inspirational leaders in the world. Ratan N. Tata: The Authorized Biography by Dr Thomas Mathew will be published globally by HarperCollins in all formats in November 2022. Udayan Mitra at HarperCollins India acquired world rights in all languages from Anish Chandy at Labyrinth Literary Agency. The book will be published by HarperCollins India in English and the principal Indian languages, by HarperCollins Leadership in the US and by William Collins in the UK.
Ratan Tata turned the Tata conglomerate into a global colossus, daring to acquire the marquee brands of Tetley Tea, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus Steel, among others. Today, the group is India’s most valuable brand and amongst the most respected worldwide, with a market capitalization of over $250 billion that employs over 750,000 people – who make cars, blend tea, write software, among much else – across 100 countries.
Dr Mathew’s comprehensive account of Ratan Tata’s life includes unknown details and fascinating stories from his formative years, the time he spent in America as a student, his return to India and his early tenure with the Tata Group. It leads up to the inspiring and engaging documentation of Mr Tata’s business strategies, leadership vision and personal integrity that have shaped the Group.
With inputs from a variety of interviewees – from the likes of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to Karuna, the janitor at GT Hospital, Mumbai – this is the only comprehensive, definitive and authorized account of Mr Tata’s life and times, his struggles and his important contributions to contemporary India. What emerges is the story of a private individual, a great industrialist and a remarkable leader who steadfastly believes, above all, in the values that he inherited, and who spent his life in the service of his fellow humans and a fledgling nation.
Ananth Padmanabhan, Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins India, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to be publishing the authorized biography of Mr Ratan Tata. It’s a remarkable book on the life of an inspirational, influential and transformative personality, someone whose words and actions have changed the world around us. With unprecedented access to Mr Tata’s personal and professional life, Dr Mathew paints a fascinating portrait of a man whose unwavering resolve to do the right thing has transformed many facets of independent India, more than any other individual or organization has. We can’t wait to publish the book in multiple formats and languages, across geographies. The publication of this book will be a global publishing event of significance!’
Udayan Mitra, Executive Publisher, HarperCollins India, added: ‘Dr Mathew’s wonderful, comprehensive biography explores the professional and private life of Ratan Tata, a man everyone respects but wouldn’t fully know if it weren’t for this book.’ Arabella Pike, Publishing Director, William Collins, said: ‘We could not be more thrilled and proud to be working with Mr Ratan Tata and Dr Thomas Mathew, and with HarperCollins India, on what I know will be a fascinating book.’ Jamie Lockard, Vice President and Publisher, Harper Leadership, said: ‘HarperCollins Leadership is excited for the opportunity to share Mr Tata’s story of his remarkable career across many continents, businesses and people with readers in the US.’
The author of the book, Dr Thomas Mathew, added: ‘Over the last four decades, I have had the opportunity to closely observe and interact with the Indian corporate ecosystem and in the later years with Mr Ratan Tata and the Tata Group, in particular. So, when I got the opportunity to write the story of the man whose name instantly evokes intense admiration, bordering on adulation, among people across the world, I had no doubt that it would be far and away an exciting yet daunting task.
‘As part of the research, I benefitted from unprecedented access to the records of the conglomerate, the trusts that control it as well as Mr Tata’s personal documents, letters and journals. I also enjoyed virtually unfettered access to Mr Tata himself, who narrated his life story in a tell-all fashion. The research also took me across continents following Ratan Tata’s journey, interviewing those who were involved in it, those who influenced him and those whose lives he had touched. ‘My literary agent, Anish Chandy, has done a creditable job of putting together this global publishing deal by selecting HarperCollins. ‘I hope readers find the extraordinary and inspiring life journey of Mr Tata as gripping as I did while putting this book together.’
