Ratan Tata’s Will: Siblings, Butler, Shantanu Naidu
Self-made industrialist cum benevolent Ratan Tata, who passed on earlier this month, has made provisions for his pet dog Tito to receive care as long as it wants. Tito was adopted roughly six years ago, following the demise of the earlier dog that Mr Tata had owned. The staff at Jackson’s house will be his longstanding cook, Rajan Shaw. Creating fortunes for pets has remained quite rare in India, though the practice is widespread in the developed countries of the West.
The former chairman of Tata &Tata Ratan Tata died on October 9, aged 86. He was an animal lover, especially dogs. On Twitter, Tata was very vocal about the well-being of stray dogs and urged those with a heart to spare some for them. He also felt that he had devoted himself to things such as helping to find homes for stray animals and assuring their security.
Go to this link, Tata signing off left money to numerous beneficiaries based on The Times of India report; assets more than ₹ 10,000 crore estate and more to family members and friends including foundation, brother Jimmy Tata, half-sisters Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy and even staff members.
The same will also contain provisions for Mr Tata’s butler Subbiah, whom he was close to for over three decades.
The will also states Shantanu Naidu, Mr Tata’s executive assistant. As described in the report, he has withdrawn from the share in Mr Naidu’s companionate partnership business, Goodfellows, and paid all his education expenses overseas.
They include a 2,000 sq ft beach house at Alibaug in Maharashtra, another two-storey house at Juhu Tara Road, Mumbai and fixed deposits, which crossed ₹ 350 crore many years ago. He also has some ownership of Tata Sons, with 0.83% as the holding company of the $165-billion Tata conglomerate.
In accordance with the tradition set by the Tata Group’s management to give shares to charitable trusts, his ownership in Tata Sons will be passed to the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation (RTEF). In addition to shares in Tata Sons, holders of securities in other Tata Group companies, such as Tata Motors, will see their stakes transferred to RTEF.
The house he lived in until his death at Colaba’s Haleakala is owned by Ewart Investments, a company fully owned by Tata Sons that will decide its fate. Mr Tata currently has 20 to 30 luxury cars in his possession in his residence, Halekai, and in Taj Wellington Mews service apartments in Colaba. Its future is still unknown, though it is being discussed whether this collection may be sold to the Tata Group to exhibit in their museum in Pune or auctioned.
The Juhu property, on a quarter-acre plot overlooking the beach, was handed over to Ratan Tata and his family after the passing of his father, Naval Tata. Reports have it closed for more than twenty years and there has been talk of the prospects of selling this building.
The legal formalities for his will will take several months. The Bombay High Court will examine them.
