Some of the world’s billionaires are pretty well known names, ranging from Warren Buffett to Jeff Bezos.
Yet there’s one name that you might not have seen, and that’s for good reason.
An Indian business mogul who is behind Land Rover and Jaguar as well as Air India and some of the biggest charity donations has given away 65 percent of his wealth, which keeps his name off the world’s rich lists which include the likes of Elon Musk.
Businessman and philanthropist Ratan Tata is known for his excellent business skills that have led the Tata Group to have a whopping net worth of $365 billion.
Ratan Tata is one of the richest billionaires in India, but gives away almost two thirds of his wealth. (John Parra/Getty Images for Pritzker Architecture Prize)
He served as the Chairman of the Tata Group from 1990 to 2012 and currently serves as the Chairman of the Council of Management of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
He was once offered a high flying role with IBM, which he reportedly turned down to focus on growing the Tata Group instead.
Yet despite having such a massive fortune, Tata is not known for being flouted on the rich lists or for flaunting his vast wealth or snapping up valuable assets.
In fact, he and the members of his family give away much of their fortune and he’s even given away $100bn to good causes.
Currently, the Tata charities have donated over $102 billion to healthcare, education, art and culture as well as other charities across India.
Giving away 65 percent of his income, Tata has effectively kept himself off some of the top billionaire rich lists, not only by helping worthy causes but by keeping himself as ‘earning less’ than others on the list.
As a result, Tata’s income is effectively seen as lower than many others who are earning upwards of $250bn, but he’s also able to continue focusing on his business empire and boosting education, technology, art and culture and charities in his native India.
Ratan Tata has donated over $102 billion to healthcare, education, art and culture as well as other charities across India. (Brian Harkin/Getty Images)
Entrepreneur Chinnakannan Sivasankaran has previously praised Tata in an interview as he said: “What is so special about Ratan Tata is his selflessness and patriotism. He is a very balanced person, always focused on excellence and the good of the country, unlike me, who is always after money.
“For him, money is just a byproduct. His objective was always about what he could do for the country, even if it took 20 years.
“He was planting seeds for the future, like a banana tree. I don’t have that kind of mentality.”