Indian businessman Ratan Tata has an estimated net worth of $1 billion. He is the chairman of the Tata Group, a Mumbai-based conglomerate, and other major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Teleservices, The Indian Hotels Company, Tata Power, Tata tea, and Tata Chemicals. Born on December 28, 1937 in Bombay, Bombay Presidency, Britis india, he is the adoptive great grandson of Tata group founder Jamsetji Tata. He began his schooling in Bombay at the Campion School and the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. He finished his secondary education at the Cathedral and John Connon School. He completed his B.S. in Architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962 and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975. He was a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

Tata started out with hovelling limestone and tending to the blast furnace, in Jamshedpur, on the ground floor. He became the Director of NELCO in 1971. The company was not working well that time but he was able to up the market share by 23%. However, the company quickly began to decline due to labor issues and the economy. He helped to turn around the Empress Mills but was shut down in 1986 because he wasn’t allowed the Rs 50 lakh he needed to raise the company from the bottom. After JRD Tata stepped down in 1981, he has taken over the position of chairman of Tata Industries. He has also become group chairman of the Tata group. He was the one responsible in the acquisition of companies including Tetley, Land Rover, Corus and Jacquar.

Ratan Tata is on the program board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s India aids initiative. He is the member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade and Industry. He has won several awards including the Honorary Economic Advisor (2004), Honorary Citizen of Singapore (2007), Honorary Doctor of Laws (2010) and a lot more. He is also known for his efforts in the development of Indica and four passenger city car the Nano. These are some of the most inexpensive cars in the world today.