Ratan Tata acquired JLR from Ford, a decade after the latter spurned an offer to buy Tata Motors

Ratan Naval Tata, the former Chairman of Tata Sons, passed away at 86 on Wednesday night.

He leaves behind a monumental legacy of founding and nurturing many companies, as well as acquiring globally renowned brands. His acquisition of Jaguar Land Rover from Ford is the stuff of legends.

In 1999, Ratan Tata and his team flew to Detroit to meet Bill Ford, then the chairman of Ford, to discuss a possible sale. The meeting lasted about three hours but did not go well, according to a person who claimed to have attended it.

The American businessman reportedly “humiliated” Tata, saying that Tata Motors should not have started the passenger car division as they “did not know anything.”

Ford executives also reportedly said that they would do the Indian company a favor by buying out the latter’s business.

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