HarperCollins snaps up authorised biography of Indian business leader Tata

HarperCollins has snapped up the rights to the authorised biography of business leader Ratan Tata by Thomas Mathew.

Udayan Mitra, executive publisher at HarperCollins India, acquired world rights in all languages to Ratan Tata: The Authorized Biography from Anish Chandy at the Labyrinth Literary Agency. The book will be published in November 2022 by HarperCollins India in English and the principal Indian languages, by HarperCollins Leadership in the US and by William Collins in the UK.

The publisher said: "Ratan Tata’s story is of a man who overcame extraordinary travails and whose compassion took priority over business compulsions, uniquely achieving both goals. As the head of India's oldest and largest business house, his story is also the narrative of India's growing ambitions on the world stage and rising clout in the past few decades. 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 among the most respected worldwide."

It added: "This is the only comprehensive, definitive and authorised 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."

Mitra said: "I grew up trusting in the Tatas, as I suspect generations before mine did, and as future generations will. And behind the Tata brand that we all know is the vision of one incredible individual. 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. And it celebrates his legacy: a legacy that every Indian can be truly proud of. It’s a matter of great personal pride and privilege for me to be associated with this remarkable biography, and to be able to bring this definitive and inspiring story to readers. This is quite simply the most important biography to be published in independent India."

Arabella Pike, publishing director at William Collins, commented: "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. I look forward to publishing the definitive biography of Ratan Tata under one of the oldest and most respected publishing imprints in the world – William Collins – and helping readers throughout the UK and Europe, Australia and New Zealand discover the true story of Mr Tata’s extraordinary life and his many achievements in industry, business and philanthropy."

Mathew added: "Over the past 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 life’s journey, interviewing those who were involved in it, those who influenced him and those whose lives he had touched."