R. K. Krishna Kumar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rayaroth Kuttambally Krishna Kumar (1938-07-18)18 July 1938[1] Tellicherry, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Died | 1 January 2023(2023-01-01) (aged 84) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
| Other names | KK |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Known for | Tata Sons |
| Spouse | Ratna[2] |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Padma Shri (2009) |
Rayaroth Kuttambally Krishna Kumar (18 July 1938 – 1 January 2023) was an Indian business executive who was the director ofTata Sons.[3] He was a member ofTata Administrative Services and served as a trustee ofSir Dorabji Tata Trust[4] andSir Ratan Tata Trust, which hold a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons.[5] He played a significant role in several acquisitions byTata Group, including the£271 million buy-out ofTetley in 2000, which madeTata Global Beverages the second-largest tea company in the world.[3] The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of thePadma Shri in 2009 for his contributions to Indian trade and industry.[6]
Krishna Kumar was born inThalassery, in the south Indian state ofKerala, to Sukumaran and Sarojini,[2] and did his schooling atMadras Christian College Higher Secondary School in Chennai, where his father served as the police commissioner.[7] His graduate studies were atLoyola College, Chennai, after which he secured his master's degree from thePresidency College, Chennai, of theUniversity of Madras with first rank.[8]
Kumar started his career by joining Tata Administrative Services in 1963[9] and was posted at Tata Industries where he worked for two years.[8] In 1965, he was transferred toTata Global Beverages, then known as Tata Finlay, and worked through the re-branding of the company as Tata Tea, to become the vice-president of South India Plantations in 1982.[10] He was promoted to joint managing director of the company in 1988 and, three years later, he became the sole managing director. In 1997, as the head of the division, he moved to Indian Hotels Company, the hospitality division ofTata Group which includesTaj Hotels Resorts and Palaces. Under Kumar's leadership, Tata Tea formed a joint venture withTetley, UK, in 1992 and, later, acquired the British company on a£271 million buy-out to become the second largest tea business in the world, reportedly the largest overseas take-over by an Indian firm at that time.[11]
Kumar headed the Indian Hotels Company from 1997 to 2002, until his appointment toTata Sons, the holding company of the group, as a member of the board of directors.[12] A year later, he retired from the board and went back to Indian Hotels Company as its vice-chairman and managing director, and stayed on the job until 2007, when he joinedSir Dorabji Tata Trust, one of the principal stakeholders in Tata Sons, as a trustee.[8] In 2009, he promoted RNT Associates, a private investment company ofRatan Tata, the then-chairman of the Tata Group and the incumbent chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, to assist startups and new companies in India.[13] He also joinedSir Ratan Tata Trust,[14] another stakeholder of Tata Sons, as a trustee, but continued to sit on the board of directors of Tata Sons, until he retired from the board on 18 July 2013 on reaching the age of 75, the prescribed age for retiring.[8]
Kumar's efforts were reported during theAssam Crisis of 1997, whenULFA activists held Tata Tea employees as hostages, and during the2008 Mumbai attacks, when theTaj Mahal Palace Hotel was under siege.[3] Even after retirement, he continued his association with Tata Group through his trusteeships at the two major stakeholders of Tata Sons,[15] and was based at the Tata Trust office in the Elphinstone building atHorniman Circle Gardens, Mumbai.[8] He also held the directorship of RNT Associates, along with his long-term associate, Ratan Tata.[16] The government of India included him in the 2009Republic Day honours list for the civilian award of thePadma Shri.[6]
Kumar was married to Ratna and the couple had a son, Ajit.[2] Kumar died in Mumbai on 1 January 2023.[17]
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