Ratan Tata’s trusted assistant, Shantanu Naidu, mourned the loss of the national icon in a post shared early this morning. Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, one of India's biggest conglomerates, died late on Wednesday night after a brief illness. He was 86.
A towering icon of industry and philanthropy, Ratan Tata’s death is a national loss, mourned by business tycoons like Anand Mahindra and Harsh Goenka. For those closest to him, however, it is also a sense of personal grief. In his LinkedIn post, Ratan Tata’s close aide Shantanu Naidu reflected not on his many business achievements, but on their close friendship.
“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,” wrote the 30-year-old General Manager at the Office of Ratan Tata.
He also shared a throwback photo, which shows the two of them together. Shantanu Naidu’s unlikely friendship with Ratan Tata blossomed over their shared love for animals. The two met in 2014, when Naidu developed reflective collars to protect stray dogs from being hit by cars at night.
Impressed by his initiative, the chairman emeritus of Tata Sons invited Naidu to work for him. Over the last 10 years, Shantanu Naidu became a close and trusted friend to Ratan Tata, who never married and had no children. During his last few years, Ratan Tata was frequently accompanied by Naidu in his rare public appearances.
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