Ratan Tata's biography soon! HarperCollins wins record publishing deal

British publisher HarperCollins has won an intensely contested global auction for Tata Sons chairman emeritus Ratan Tata's biography, touted to be India's biggest non-fiction deal, sources confirmed to Business Today.  
 
The book, chronicling the life of one of India's biggest industrialists and philanthropist's, is an authoritative biography with copious details about 84-years-old Ratan Tata's childhood, college years, and his early influences. 
 
Confirming the development, sources aware of the book deal told Business Today that a formal announcement is expected shortly from the publisher.
 
The book 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. 

Also Read: Ratan Tata turns 84: A list of 10 start-ups funded by the industrialist
 
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. 
 
Meanwhile, the rights for over-the-top (OTT) and film have been retained by the author, represented by Anish Chandy of Labyrinth Literary Agency, according to the report. 
 
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 
 
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. 

Also Read: 'JRD Tata would be overjoyed': Ratan Tata on Tata Sons winning bid for Air 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.