Henning Holck-Larsen, co-founder and chairman-emeritus of Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), passed away here on Sunday at the age of 96 after a brief illness.Larsen, perhaps the only foreign industrialist to have spent more than 60 years in India, was the co-founder of L&T along with his former school mate Soren Kristian Toubro. The firm overtime, established itself, as one of the India’s largest diversifed conglomerates with interests spanning from engineering, constructions, cement to infotech.L&T CEO and managing director, A.M. Naik is currently in the US and is flying back to Mumbai immediately to attend the funeral which will take place on Monday.Reminiscing about Larsen, L&T chief financial officer, Y.M. Deosthalee, who has been closely associated with him for a long period of time, said: “The ease with which he used to conduct himself, was fantastic. He was an affectionate man, full of smiles, jokes and never gave anyone tense moments.”Larsen was made chairman-emeritius of the L&T on his retirement. He divided his time between Denmark and India, and maintained a keen interest in the working of L&T.Even till the very end, Larsen was keenly interested with the affairs of L&T and participated in all the crucial board meetings.
