Corporate heads who died in office

Karl Slym managing director of Tata Motors Ltd, died after falling from a hotel room in Bangkok in what police said on Monday could be a possible suicide. Slym, a British national, was hired in 2012 to revive Tata's flagging sales and market share in India. Tata Motors is part of the Tata conglomerate. Slym led the automaker's operations in India and international markets including South Korea, Thailand and South Africa, but he did not look after the Jaguar and Land Rover (JLR) luxury unit that Tata Motors acquired in 2008.

The promoter and non-executive chairman of Yes Bank was killed by terrorists in the Trident-Oberoi hotel complex, on November 2008. Kapur was said to be holding a stake of around 12% in the bank at time of his death. Kapur, who was instrumental in setting up this new-generation private bank with Managing Director & CEO Rana Kapoor, started his career with Grindlays Bank. Before joining Yes Bank, Kapur was managing director of Rabo India and led a management team to partner Rabobank Netherlands to set up the financial services company focused on corporate and structured finance for the Indian market.

The President of SAP India was only 42 years old when he succumbed to a heart attack following a gym workout. Das had been with SAP for over eight years and moved to Mumbai in 2007 after taking over as Head of SAP India. Das was a seasoned entrepreneurial technology executive with over 15 years of experience in both global and start-up software companies. He was among the few who were responsible for making India one of the company’s fastest growing regions. Das also co-founded SAP xApps and established it into one of the fastest growing businesses for the company. He also assumed the lead role in integrating the sales model and resources from acquired companies, including Virsa, Lighthammer and Frictionless Commerce, into SAP.

The executive director of Reliance Industries and former head of rating agency Crisil died of cardiac arrest on December 28, 2009. A qualified chemical engineer and Harvard Business School alumni, Ravimohan was in the special team formed for the acquisition of the petrochemicals company LyondellBasell that was headed by Mukesh Ambani’s right hand man Manoj Modi. He was looking after the acquisition strategy and financial aspects of the deal. Regarded as one of India’s finest brains in the financial world, Ravimohan was also, till September 2008, the Managing Director and Region Head, South and South East Asia, Standard & Poor’s.

It was a freak accident that killed the founder and managing director of private equity group Milestone Capital. He died in a freak accident on August 25, 2011, after a tree fell on him while he was on a morning walk. Touted as one of the brightest and influential figures in the PE space, Arya had 17 years of experience in the real estate and retail sectors. Before starting Milestone in 2007, he worked as the chief operating officer and director at Pantaloon Retail and set up the Rajan Raheja group’s apparel retail chain, Globus. An alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad, Arya was one of the key persons driving the Future group’s real estate funds, Kshitij and Horizon. Under his leadership, Milestone launched eight PE schemes and took its assets under management to about Rs 4,500 crore.

The President of Nasscom was only 38 years old when he died of a heart attack in Sydney on April 12, 2001. Seen as the driving force that made India the software giant that it is today, Mehta took charge of Nasscom in 1991, at the invitation of his friend and IT Industry veteran, Harish Mehta. Known for his lobbying and negotiating skills, Mehta used them to build what was a fledgling Indian software industry in 1991 to a behemoth at the time of his death. He also took on the role of a mentor, helping both central and state governments to become IT-enabled.