Rajiv Bajaj, managing director of Bajaj Auto, had a poignant note on his father, legendary industrialist Rahul Bajaj, who died on Saturday.
“All men die, not all men truly live,” Rajiv Bajaj wrote in his status on WhatsApp on Saturday evening. The line is a spin-off of the famous line by William Wallace: “every man dies, not every man really lives”.
Rahul Bajaj, the former chairman of Bajaj Auto, died in Pune. He was 83.
He died in the "presence of his closest family members", a Bajaj Group statement said.
Rahul Bajaj had stepped down as the chairman of Bajaj Auto last year, ending a 49-year stint as the head of the two-wheeler manufacturer known for iconic taglines like “Hamara Bajaj” and "you just can't beat a Bajaj". He was honoured with Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, in 2001.
He stepped down as non-executive chairman of Bajaj Auto in April 2021. While his younger son Sanjiv took over as chairman at both the finance companies last year, cousin Niraj Bajaj was appointed chairman of Bajaj Auto while elder son Rajiv will continue as managing director.
Rahul Bajaj was one of the longest serving chairmen in corporate India, next only to KM Mammen Mappillai, the founder of Chennai-based tyre-making behemoth MRF, who held the reins for 51 years.
He cited age was the reason for his resignation. In 2020, he stepped down as chairman of Bajaj Finance, the biggest company in Bajaj Group by market capitalisation, and later at Bajaj Finserv.
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