From Being A Farmer’s Son To A Corporate Legend: This Padma Bhushan Awardee Was Once A TCS Intern!

On February 11, 2022 the Board of Tata Sons approved the reappointment of N Chandrasekaran as the Executive Chairman, who had retained his position as the same, for another 5 years. What makes N Chandrasekaran remarkable that the Tata Sons Board of Directors has asked for his reappointment for another term?

Natarajan Chandrasekaran, former CEO of the Tata Consultancy Services and current Chairman of the Board of Tata Sons, has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of the Nation, and is amongst the 17 Padma Bhushan awardees in the year.

Journey of Natarajan Chandrasekaran

Popularly known as "The Marathon Man", Chandrasekaran was born to an agricultural family in Mohanur near Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. He would've followed the same line of agriculture, if not for his love for computer programming.

Starting his educational journey in a government school in Mohanur, he later received his bachelor's degree in Applied Sciences from the Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu. Chandrasekaran earned his Masters in Computer Applications (MCA) from the Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli (later renamed the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli) in 1986. He began his journey in the Tata Consultancy Group in 1987 as an intern.

Mistry-Tata Verdict!

Chandrasekaran guided the Tata Sons in a time when it faced its leadership crisis after the removal of its previous Chairman, Cyrus Mistry, and also guided the organisation and its functions during the 4-year long Tata-Mistry verdict, on which the latter filed a suit under Sections 241, 242 and 244 of the Companies Act, 2013 before National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai alleging oppression of minority shareholder rights and operational mismanagement of the Tata Sons.

The Supreme Court’s decision

Finally, after 4 years of court hearings and also facing an ultimatum to remove Chandrasekaran from his post as Chairman, The Supreme Court on March 26, 2021, pronounced its long-awaited judgement in the Tata-Cyrus Mistry case in favour of the Tata Sons group. The court dismissed all the charges of oppression and mismanagement against the Tata Sons Limited made by entities owned by Cyrus Mistry, and also set aside NCLAT's order of removal of N Chandrasekaran and reinstatement of Cyrus Mistry. 

Reflecting upon Chandrasekaran's effective guidance and leadership through such a critical period made investors and the Board gain trust in Chandrasekaran more than ever, and the Board requested his reappointment as Executive Director for another tenure in February 2022.

Contribution towards TCS

Since his appointment as CEO on 6 October 2009, TCS has generated consolidated revenues of US$16.5 billion in 2015-16. With over 556,000 consultants, TCS has now become the largest private sector employer in India, and still maintains its position as the most valuable company in India, also ended 2015-16 with a market capitalization of over US$70 billion. In 2015 TCS was rated as the world's most powerful brand in IT Services, and gained recognition as a Global Top Employer by the Top Employers Institute across 24 countries.

Additional achievements and contributions

"In addition to his professional career at Tata, Chandra was also appointed as a Director on the Board of India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, in 2016. He has also served as the Chairperson of the Information and Communication Technology Industry Governors at the World Economic Forum, Davos in 2015-16", says the official TCS website.

Chandrasekaran is also an active member of India's bilateral business forums including USA, UK, Australia and Japan. He has also served as the chairman of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies), the apex trade body for IT services firms in India in 2012-13.

His business leadership has gained recognition from several corporate and community organisations. Along with the Padma Bhushan, he has received numerous awards, including - Business Leader of the Year at the ET Awards for Corporate Excellence 2016,

CNBC TV 18 - ‘Indian Business Icon' 2014, CNN-IBN Indian of the Year 2014 (business category), best CEO for 2013 and 2014 by Business Today and best CEO 2010-15 Institutional Investor’s Annual All-Asia Executive Team rankings.

With such honorary awards, Chandrasekaran has also received several honorary doctorates by leading universities both in India as well as outside India.

Optimistic of the future 

"I am optimistic about what we can do next in the years ahead. Recent success has given our group a great platform to build on, and I am excited by the heights I know we can reach”, by the Marathon Man himself.

Aside from being one of the most prominent characters in the corporate world, Chandrasekaran is also an avid photographer, music aficionado and a passionate long-distance runner who has completed marathons in Amsterdam, Boston, Chicago, Berlin, Mumbai, New York and Tokyo. He completed his fastest marathon or personal record (PR) at TCS New York City Marathon (2014) with a finishing time of 5 hrs 00 min 52 sec.

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