Shantanu Naidu is well known for his bond with the late Ratan Tata, the former head of Tata Sons. He remains renowned for animal welfare and the social impact at large. Well-recognised as a young general manager of Tata Trusts and as Tata’s personal assistant, Naidu had a rather unique working connection with the iconic industrialist.
Naidu, who was born in Pune, Maharashtra, in 1993, rose to prominence because of his solid educational background and a fervent interest in social causes. His early ventures began in 2014 at Savitribai Phule Pune University, where he studied civil engineering. He continued his scholarly endeavours in that field and in 2016, he pursued an MBA at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.
Naidu started as an intern at Tata Elxsi before realising he wanted to help stray animals. This led him to develop a life-saving solution: reflective collars for dogs, primarily invented to minimise road tragedies related to stray animals. His initiative was however noted by none other than Ratan Tata who is well known for his support of animal rights. The plan to construct such a structure was initiated when Naidu contacted Tata who would eventually transform his life.
The first meeting of Naidu with Tata laid the foundation for their friendship as well as business relations. Noticing Naidu’s passion and innovation, Tata invited him to work alongside him. It was not until May 2022 that Naidu started working at Tata officially as his personal assistant and later took the position of the general manager of Tata Trusts.
Naidu did not restrict himself to corporate walls. He started his own start-up company called Goodfellows in 2022, which was all about helping senior citizens find companionship. The innovative model was to provide company and support to elderly people and was a project close to the hearts of both Naidu and Tata. It is valued at about Rs 5 crore and Goodfellows can be considered a continuation of Naidu’s track of social entrepreneurship.
On October 9, 2024, Ratan Tata, the man who gave him the opportunity of a lifetime, passed away. On social media, Naidu expressed his grief, writing, “The hole that this friendship has now left with me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to fill.” He referred to the industrialist as his “Dear lighthouse”.
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