Veteran industrialist Ratan Tata, who passed away earlier this month, left his legacy and assets to his family, staff, and pet dog.
His mentee, Shantanu Naidu, finds a mention in his ₹10,000 crore will.
Reportedly, Ratan Tata has given up his ownership in Goodfellows, Naidu’s venture started in 2021, that aims to provide aid to elderly individuals living alone in India.
Ratan Tata also waived off Naidu’s education loan in his will.
Shantanu Naidu finished his engineering degree from Savitribai Phule Pune University in 2014. In 2016, he completed his MBA from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management.
Ratan Tata and Shantanu Naidu’s friendship
Naidu met Tata through a letter he wrote to the industrialist on his father’s advice. In it, Naidu informed Tata about his project to protect stray dogs from traffic accidents. Tata replied to his letter in two months.
Naidu worked as an automobile design engineer at Tata Elxsi, where he launched a project called Motopaws, which aims to protect stray dogs from traffic accidents. The project manufactures reflective collars for stray dogs.
In 2018, Naidu reportedly started working as Tata’s assistant.
Naidu has grabbed attention for his closeness and friendship with the veteran industrialist. A video of Ratan Tata celebrating his birthday with Naidu went viral on social media. In the video, Naidu can be seen singing the birthday song to the business tycoon.
After the death of Ratan Tata, Naidu shared an emotional message for his mentor along with a picture on LinkedIn.
“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,” he wrote on X.
Apart from Naidu, Tata’s will mentions his half-sisters, Shireen and Deanna Jejeebhoy, his household staff, and others. It also mentions his German Shepherd, Tito.
His assets are estimated at ₹10,000 crores, including a 2,000-square-foot beach bungalow in Alibaug, a two-storey house on Juhu Tara Road in Mumbai, fixed deposits of more than ₹350 crores, and a 0.83 per cent stake in Tata Sons, the holding company of the $165-billion Tata Group.
