Ratan Tata has 8.5 million followers on Instagram. However, the business tycoon follows only one handle in return. However, it is not any celebrities or ace business peers.
The handle belongs to the philanthropic arm of the Tata Group, the Tata Trusts. Ratan Tata, who does not play an active role in the business subsidiaries of the conglomerate, is still heavily involved with Tata Trusts.
The origins of Tata Trusts can be traced back to over 130 year ago, when 'Father of Indian Industry' and legendary Tata Group founder Jamsetji Tata set up the JN Tata Endowment Fund in 1892. The fund would provide for higher education of Indian nationals. Philanthropy to promote higher education and research was a novel concept at the time, even in advanced nations like the US, as per the Tata Trusts official website.
The legendary Tata ground patriarch Jamsetji Tata was a pioneer in the field, outracing US billionaire Andrew Carnegie by two years. While Carnegie set up a novel $1 million fund which led to the Carnegie Mellon University coming up in 1900, Jamsetji did it two years before. He pledged around half of his personal fortune, around Rs 30 lakh, for the establishment of a university or research institute for Indians in 1898.
