Tata’s Outsider CEO Battles Multiple Crises After Bad Year
Natarajan Chandrasekaran’s legacy will shape India’s appetite for professional management in a country still devoted to dynasties.
Natarajan Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Sons, attends the listing ceremony of Tata Capital at the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai in October.
Photographer: Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto/Getty Images
India’s billionaire-tycoons are under fire, from Gautam Adani’s US indictment for bribery to Mukesh Ambani’s purchase of Russian oil cargoes that drew scathing criticism from Washington.
Yet the titan facing the most number of business challenges isn’t really a billionaire: Tata Sons Private Ltd. Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the only non-founder, non-heir at the helm of a major Indian conglomerate.