Indian industrialist Ratan Tata has left a large chunk of his £91 million fortune to his dog in his will, asking that his beloved hound gets ‘unlimited care’ following his death.
Mr Tata, who is credited with transforming the Tata Group into a globally renowned conglomerate, died at a hospital in Mumbai earlier this month at the age of 86.
As is customary in India, the businessman, who never married or had children, would have left his estate, valued at around £91 million, to his siblings.
But, the former chairman of the Tata Group overlooked his brother, Jimmy Tata, and half sisters Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy in favour of his beloved German shepherd, Tito.
According to the Times, Mr Tata stated that his pooch, his butler and general assistant, Konar Subbiah and his cook, Rajan Shaw, should each receive a large portion of his fortune. His siblings will only inherit part of his estate.
In India, it is rare that pets and servants are given such a generous amount, with wealth generally being kept within families.
In his will, Mr Tata specified that provisions should be put in place to provide ‘unlimited care’ for his beloved pet, who was by his side until he died.
It’s in keeping with Mr Tata’s lifelong love of animals, with doormen at the Tata Group’s headquarters instructed to never turn away a stray animal.
According to Suhel Seth, a close friend of Tata, the amount which has been left to Tata’s former butler and cook, both in their fifties and now taking care of Tito, is generous.
‘He has made very, very generous provisions for them’, he told the Times. ‘They will never have to work again and they will be very well looked after’.
He added that the instructions were of no surprise to those who knew Mr Tata well, saying: ‘This will is not a statement of wealth’ but a ‘gesture of gratitude for the joy and care’ he was given by his pets and two closest aides.
Tributes poured in earlier this month after Mr Tata’s passing was announced.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Tata ‘a visionary business leader, a compassionate soul and an extraordinary human being’.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai, said Ratan Tata left behind an extraordinary business and philanthropic legacy and he was instrumental in mentoring and developing modern business leadership in India.
‘My last meeting with Ratan Tata at Google, we talked about the progress of Waymo and his vision was inspiring to hear,’ Pichai said on X.
‘He deeply cared about making India better.’
Born in 1937 in Bombay, now Mumbai, Mr Tata originally planned to be an architect and was working in the United States when his grandmother – who raised him – asked him to return home and join the sprawling family business.
He started out in 1962 at TISCO, now known as Tata, staying in a hostel for apprentices and working on the shop floor near blast furnaces.
In 1991 he took over the family empire, riding the wave of the radical free-market reforms India had just unleashed that year.
Mr Tata’s 21 years at its helm saw the salt-to-steel conglomerate expand its global footprint to include British luxury brands such as Jaguar and Land Rover.
The tycoon stepped back as chairman in 2012, before briefly taking over as interim chairman in October 2016, after his successor, Cyrus Mistry, was ousted.
Tata Group is now a sprawling umbrella of nearly 100 companies, including the country’s largest car manufacturer, its largest private steel company and a leading outsourcing firm.
It employs more than 350,000 people worldwide. In June 2008, Tata bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford for $2.3billion.
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