JRD Tata Passed Leadership to Ratan Tata

“You should take my place”: When JRD Tata handed over reins to Ratan Tata

In a 1997 interview, Ratan Tata shared how Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata, known as JRD Tata, handed over the reins of Tata Sons to him. In 1991, few expected JRD Tata to appoint Ratan Tata as the next face of Tata Sons. This decision surprised many senior contenders in the Tata Group. It was a pivotal moment that transformed the company into a salt-to-software conglomerate.

Ratan Tata noted that JRD made this decision after being hospitalized due to a heart condition at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital. “We were in Jamshedpur for a function, and I had to travel to Stuttgart for negotiations with Mercedes-Benz. When I returned, I learned JRD was hospitalized. I visited him every day. He was discharged on a Friday, and the following Monday, I went to see him in the office,” Ratan Tata shared.

Typically, JRD would start meetings by asking, “Well, what’s new?” To which Ratan Tata replied, “J, I’ve been seeing you every day; there is nothing new since I last saw you.” However, JRD had something important to say that day. He stated, “What has happened to me in Jamshedpur has made me think that I need to step down, and I have decided that you should take my place.”

Soon after, this decision was presented to the Tata Group’s board. Ratan Tata mentioned that JRD reflected on his decades-long association with the company during the board meeting.

“Many of my colleagues said that it was a historic day. Apart from stepping down from a position he held for 40 to 50 years, there was deep emotion attached to relinquishing this role to someone else. He reminisced through his years at that meeting, and we all came out very moved,” Ratan Tata recalled.

Two years later, after JRD handed him the baton, he passed away in Geneva, Switzerland.