NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- 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's story is that 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 also encapsulates the
narrative of India's growing ambitions on the world stage and
rising clout in the last 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 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.
During his momentous tenure, Ratan Tata transformed the Tata
Group from a collection of disparate companies into a unified
powerhouse. Today, it is one of the world's largest business
conglomerates and is greatly admired for its compassionate
capitalism and trusteeship model of holding wealth.
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.
Speaking on the acquisition,
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: '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, 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. 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.'
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. His rich history and the indelible lessons of
leadership, innovation, brand-building, and cultivating passionate
associates and consumers are central to what we do best.'
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.'
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr Thomas Mathew
(https://thomasmathew.com) is a retired career bureaucrat belonging
to the 1983 batch of the Indian Administrative Service. With a
passion for writing, he has several publications to his credit,
including four books – In Search of Congruence: India-US
Relations under the Obama Administration (edited and
contributed to its lead chapter), The Winged Wonders of
Rashtrapati Bhavan and Abode Under the Dome. He
regularly writes opinion pieces for leading dailies.
Dr Mathew holds a PhD degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, and is a Bachelor of
Law from Delhi University. He has
worked in key roles in the Ministries of Finance, Defence and
Industry, amongst others. He subsequently served as Additional
Secretary to President of India Pranab
Mukherjee.
Dr Mathew met Ratan Tata in a professional capacity about three
decades ago. They continued their interactions due to their shared
interests. In 2018, Dr Mathew began work on the biography of Ratan
Tata.
Now retired, he serves on the board of several companies and is
consulted on corporate matters. He lives in Gurugram, pursuing his
passion of writing, nature conservation and photography.
ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS INDIA
HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from
the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing
approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital
catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors
have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker
Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta
Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award,
Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital
Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya
Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also
represents some of the finest publishers in the world
including Harvard University Press,
Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely
Planet. HarperCollins India has been awarded the Publisher of the
Year Award four times: at Tata Literature Live! in 2021, 2018 and
2016 and at Publishing Next in 2015. HarperCollins India is a
subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.
ABOUT HARPERCOLLINS
HarperCollins Publishers is the second largest consumer book
publisher in the world, with operations in 17 countries. With 200
years of history and more than 120 branded imprints around the
world, HarperCollins publishes approximately 10,000 new books every
year in 16 languages, and has a print and digital catalogue of more
than 200,000 titles. Writing across dozens of genres, HarperCollins
authors include winners of the Nobel Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, the
National Book Award, the Newbery and Caldecott Medals and the Man
Booker Prize. HarperCollins, headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of News Corp
(Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) and can be visited online at
corporate.HC.com.
Contact:
Sicily Axton
Sicily.axton@harpercollins.com
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