Anuj tripathi 111: Starting A Biography.

2025-11-25T07:17:50Z

Starting A Biography.

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{{Short description|Indian businessman (1938–2023)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = R. K. Krishna Kumar
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name = Rayaroth Kuttambally Krishna Kumar
| birth_date = {{birth date|1938|7|18|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bseindia.com/bseplus/AnnualReport/500314/5003140312.pdf |title=Annual Report, July 17, 2012 |website=BSE India |access-date=3 January 2023 |archive-date=4 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104033653/https://www.bseindia.com/bseplus/AnnualReport/500314/5003140312.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| birth_place = [[Tellicherry]], Madras Presidency, British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2023|01|01|1938|7|18|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], Maharashtra, India
| restingplace =
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername = KK
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
* [[Loyola College, Chennai]]
* [[Presidency College, Chennai]]
}}
| occupation = Business executive
| yearsactive =
| known for = [[Tata Sons]]
| spouse = Ratna<ref name="Personality" />
| domesticpartner =
| children = 1
| parents = 
| website =
| awards = [[Padma Shri]] (2009)
}}

'''Rayaroth Kuttambally Krishna Kumar''' (18 July 1938{{Spaced en dash}}1 January 2023) was an Indian business executive who was the director of [[Tata Sons]].<ref name="Ratan Tata's right-hand man 'KK' retires">{{cite web | url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Ratan-Tatas-right-hand-man-KK-retires/articleshow/21152528.cms | title=Ratan Tata's right-hand man 'KK' retires | work=The Times of India | date=19 July 2013 | access-date=1 March 2016}}</ref> He was a member of [[Tata Administrative Services]] and served as a trustee of [[Sir Dorabji Tata Trust]]<ref name="Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Trustees">{{cite web | url=http://www.dorabjitatatrust.org/id/69/trustees/ | title=Sir Dorabji Tata Trust Trustees | publisher=Sir Dorabji Tata Trust | year=2016 | access-date=1 March 2016 | archive-date=12 October 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012030509/http://dorabjitatatrust.org/id/69/Trustees/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Sir Ratan Tata Trust]], which hold a 66 per cent stake in Tata Sons.<ref name="Krishna Kumar set to hang up boots at Tata Sons">{{cite news | url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/krishna-kumar-set-to-hang-up-boots-at-tata-sons-113061900015_1.html | title=Krishna Kumar set to hang up boots at Tata Sons | newspaper=Business Standard India | date=19 June 2013 | access-date=1 March 2016| last1=Chatterjee | first1=Dev }}</ref> He played a significant role in several acquisitions by [[Tata Group]], including the {{GBP|271}} million buy-out of [[Tetley]] in 2000, which made [[Tata Global Beverages]] the second-largest tea company in the world.<ref name="Ratan Tata's right-hand man 'KK' retires" /> The Government of India awarded him the fourth-highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Shri]] in 2009 for his contributions to Indian trade and industry.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web | url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | title=Padma Awards | publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India | year=2016 | access-date=3 January 2016 | archive-date=15 October 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Early life ==
Krishna Kumar was born in [[Thalassery]], in the south Indian state of [[Kerala]], to Sukumaran and Sarojini,<ref name="Personality">{{cite web | url=http://www.thalassery.info/personality/krishna_kumar.htm | title=Personality | publisher=Thalassery.com |year=2016 | access-date=1 March 2016}}</ref> and did his schooling at [[Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School]] in Chennai, where his father served as the police commissioner.<ref name="I have been able to find a balance within myself">{{cite interview | url=http://www.tata.com/article/inside/RiW4YJ!$$!4lpI=/TLYVr3YPkMU= | title=I have been able to find a balance within myself | date=March 2011 | access-date=1 March 2016 | last=Kumar | first=Krishna | interviewer=Christabelle Noronha }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> His graduate studies were at [[Loyola College, Chennai]], after which he secured his master's degree from the [[Presidency College, Chennai]], of the [[University of Madras]] with first rank.<ref name="RK Krishna Kumar set to begin new innings with Ratan Tata at RNT Associates" />

== Career ==
Kumar started his career by joining Tata Administrative Services in 1963<ref name="Tata Sons' Director R K Krishna Kumar retires">{{cite web | url=http://www.hospitalitybizindia.com/detailNews.aspx?aid=17139&sid=23 | title=Tata Sons' Director R K Krishna Kumar retires | publisher=Hospitalitybizindia.com | date=19 July 2013 | access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> and was posted at Tata Industries where he worked for two years.<ref name="RK Krishna Kumar set to begin new innings with Ratan Tata at RNT Associates">{{cite web | url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-06-23/news/40134746_1_tata-global-beverages-cyrus-mistry-tata-industries | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626110031/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-06-23/news/40134746_1_tata-global-beverages-cyrus-mistry-tata-industries | url-status=dead | archive-date=26 June 2013 | title=RK Krishna Kumar set to begin new innings with Ratan Tata at RNT Associates | work=The Economic Times | date=23 June 2013 | access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> In 1965, he was transferred to [[Tata 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.<ref name="Tata Coffee press release">{{cite web | url=http://www.tatacoffee.com/media/press_kit/rk.html | title=Tata Coffee press release | publisher=Tata Coffee | year=2016 | access-date=2 March 2016 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> 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 of [[Tata Group]] which includes [[Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces]]. Under Kumar's leadership, Tata Tea formed a joint venture with [[Tetley]], UK, in 1992 and, later, acquired the British company on a {{GBP}}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.<ref name="Tetley bagged by India's Tata">{{cite web | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/658724.stm | title=Tetley bagged by India's Tata | work=BBC News | date=27 February 2000 | access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref>

Kumar headed the Indian Hotels Company from 1997 to 2002, until his appointment to [[Tata Sons]], the holding company of the group, as a member of the board of directors.<ref name="Executive Profile Krishnakumar Rayaroth Kuttambally">{{cite web | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=7673047&privcapId=3138393 | title=Executive Profile Krishnakumar Rayaroth Kuttambally | publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |year=2016 | access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> 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 joined [[Sir Dorabji Tata Trust]], one of the principal stakeholders in Tata Sons, as a trustee.<ref name="RK Krishna Kumar set to begin new innings with Ratan Tata at RNT Associates" /> In 2009, he promoted RNT Associates, a private investment company of [[Ratan Tata]], the then-chairman of the Tata Group and the incumbent chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, to assist startups and new companies in India.<ref name="Inside Ratan Tata's vehicle for investment">{{cite news | url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/inside-ratan-tata-s-vehicle-for-investment-114091300019_1.html | title=Inside Ratan Tata's vehicle for investment | newspaper=Business Standard India | date=13 September 2014 | access-date=2 March 2016| last1=Kumar | first1=Abhineet }}</ref> He also joined [[Sir Ratan Tata Trust]],<ref name="The Trustees">{{cite web | url=http://www.srtt.org/about_us/trustees.htm | title=The Trustees | publisher=Sir Ratan Tata Trust |year=2016 | access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref name="RK Krishna Kumar set to begin new innings with Ratan Tata at RNT Associates" />

Kumar's efforts were reported during the [[Assam Crisis of 1997]], when [[ULFA]] activists held Tata Tea employees as hostages, and during the [[2008 Mumbai attacks]], when the [[Taj Mahal Palace Hotel]] was under siege.<ref name="Ratan Tata's right-hand man 'KK' retires" /> Even after retirement, he continued his association with Tata Group through his trusteeships at the two major stakeholders of Tata Sons,<ref name="India's response to global weakness inadequate">{{cite web | url=http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/economy/indias-response-to-global-weakness-inadequate-tata-trusts_2799641.html | title=India's response to global weakness inadequate | publisher=Money Control | date=31 August 2015 | access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> and was based at the Tata Trust office in the Elphinstone building at [[Horniman Circle Gardens]], Mumbai.<ref name="RK Krishna Kumar set to begin new innings with Ratan Tata at RNT Associates" /> He also held the directorship of RNT Associates, along with his long-term associate, Ratan Tata.<ref name="Tata, Ajit">{{cite web | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/economy/story/19970915-ratan-tata-proves-his-supremacy-by-ousting-ajit-kerkar-from-taj-group-of-hotels-830570-1997-09-14 | title=Tata, Ajit | work=India Today | date=15 September 1997 | access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref> The government of India included him in the 2009 [[Indian honours system|Republic Day honours]] list for the civilian award of the [[Padma Shri]].<ref name="Padma Awards" />

== Personal life ==
Kumar was married to Ratna and the couple had a son, Ajit.<ref name="Personality" /> Kumar died in Mumbai on 1 January 2023.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theweek.in/news/biz-tech/2023/01/01/rk-krishnakumar-former-tata-sons-director-passes-away.html|title=R. K. Krishnakumar, former Tata Sons director, passes away|website=theweek.in}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite interview | title=Exclusive: Ratan Tata, by someone who knows him well | date=28 December 2012 | access-date=2 March 2016 | last=Kumar | first=Krishna | interviewer=Vaihayasi Pande Daniel | publisher=Rediff.com | url=http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-interview-with-mr-rk-krishna-kumar/20121228.htm}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8QdKJYzxmo | title=A Tribute to R K Krishna Kumar from TATA Group | via=YouTube | publisher=One Film Company | date=24 September 2015 | access-date=1 March 2016}}
* "Heart of Business", CNBC – TV18 interview, 2015 with R. K. Krishna Kumar. YouTube videos [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yzCnsEnC0E Part 1], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qUKQNqAByk Part 2]

{{Tata Group}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Trade & Industry}}
{{Padma Award winners of Kerala}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishna Kumar, R. K.}}
[[Category:1930s births]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:2023 deaths]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in trade and industry]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Kerala]]
[[Category:Indian chief executives]]
[[Category:Tata Group people]]
[[Category:Presidency College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:Loyola College, Chennai alumni]]
[[Category:University of Madras alumni]]
[[Category:People from Thalassery]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian businesspeople]]

R. K. Krishna Kumar - Revision history

Anuj tripathi 111: Starting A Biography.