Mumbai, Maharashtra

Ratan Tata’s trusted assistant and entrepreneur Shantanu Naidu shared a heartfelt note for his “lighthouse,” chairman of Tata Sons, who passed away late on Wednesday (Oct 9).

Advertisment

Naidu jotted down words of grief on his LinkedIn post on Thursday (Oct 10), sharing a picture of him with Tata. 

“The hole that this friendship has now left with me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill. Grief is the price to pay for love. Goodbye, my dear lighthouse,” the post read.

×

Advertisment

Ratan Tata, one of India’s tallest businessmen and philanthropists, passed away at 86 at Breach Candy Hospital in south Mumbai, where he had been admitted for the last few days. 

Also Read | Ratan Tata's former girlfriend, Simi Garewal, shares painful note on his demise

The unique bond between Tata and Naidu, the youngest General Manager at Tata, flourished through their mutual affection for animals. They first met in 2014 when Naidu created reflective collars to safeguard stray dogs from night-time traffic accidents. Tata liked Naidu’s effort to save dogs on the road and invited Naidu to join his team.

Advertisment

Since then, Naidu has become a close and trusted friend to Tata, who never married and had no children but treated the 31-year-old as his son.

Naidu was born and raised in Pune and started working with Tata in May 2022. 

He holds an engineering degree from Savitribai Phule University and an MBA from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management. He began his career as an automobile design engineer at Tata Elxsi. 

Also Read | Ratan Tata to be accorded state funeral by India's Maharashtra, day of mourning declared

Naidu and Tata’s business mindset also have the commonality of profit for a cause. In September 2022, Naidu founded Goodfellows, a Mumbai-based startup that connects senior citizens with young people, called “grandpals,” who have emotional intelligence and empathy.

The start-up was inspired by Naidu’s realisation that senior citizens often feel lonely and need companionship. The venture is now reportedly valued at Rs 5 crore and it was Ratan Tata and his company that invested in the start-up initially. 

Naidu has also written a book, ‘I Came Upon a Lighthouse, ' a short memoir about his life with Ratan Tata. 

(With inputs from agencies)