Ratan Tata's biography in Nov 2022! HarperCollins wins global publishing deal

British publisher HarperCollins announced on Friday that it has acquired rights to publish the authorised biography of Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata's. 

Titled Ratan N. Tata: The Authorized Biography, the book chronicles the life of one of India's biggest industrialists and philanthropists

The book will be released in all formats in November this year. 

Titled Ratan N. Tata: The Authorized Biography, the book chronicles the life of one of India's biggest industrialists and philanthropists. It is an authoritative biography with copious details about 84-years-old Ratan Tata's childhood, college years, and his early influences.  

The biography also entails formerly unreported details about events such as Tata's Nano project, ouster of former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, and Tata Steel Ltd.'s acquisition of Corus.

"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," the British publishing house said in a statement. 

Udayan Mitra, Executive Publisher, HarperCollins India acquired world rights in all languages from Anish Chandy, Founder, 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.

Meanwhile, the rights for over-the-top (OTT) and film have been retained by the author, represented by Chandy.

Although sources didn't confirm the winning bid amount for the publishing rights won by HarperCollins, a report by Mint, states the sum for the worldwide rights of the print, audiobook and e-book formats is learnt to be upwards of Rs 2 crore.

The book is going to be authored by a former senior bureaucrat and retired IAS officer, Thomas Mathew, who got access to the photographs, private papers and correspondence of Ratan Tata during the last few years. Mathew has authored two other books - Abode Under the Dome and The Winged Wonders of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

"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," the statement read further. 

Speaking on the development, Ananth Padmanabhan, Chief Executive Officer of HarperCollins India, said, "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 organisation has." 

Book publishing is an obscure business in India with deal numbers heavily guarded. Sachin Tendulkar's 2014 biography - Playing it My Way - is another non-fiction book that saw a bidding war. It was published by Hachette India.  

Publishing houses usually pay an advance amount to acquire the rights to a book from an author. Once they recover the money from the book's sales, the author begins getting royalties, which are a percentage of the sales price, typically ranging from 5-15%.

Born in 1937, Ratan Naval Tata, joined the company in the year 1961 and took charge of the company in 1991 after JRD Tata stepped down as Tata Sons' chairperson.

Under his leadership, the overlapping units of Tata Sons were harmonised into a synergised whole, and the group acquired truck manufacturing operations of the Korean company Daewoo, London-based Tetley Tea, Jaguar Land Rover, steelmaker Corus Group and more.