NEW YORK – Rajat Gupta, the former director of Goldman Sachs who turned out to be fraudster has become the hottest topic for discussion. This corporate leader who spoiled years of hard work for some additional bucks will now serve as a perfect role model for people who look out for a shortcut to become filthy rich.
Rajat, the managing director of management consultancy McKinsey & Company, was recognized as the first Indian born CEO of a global corporation. He served the firm with full determination and sincerity for nine long years and during his tenure the company was successful in starting its branches in 23 new countries and has also doubled its consultant base. Apart from being an exemplary successful businessman, Rajat was a philanthropist focusing on diverse areas such as education, global health, and global business.
The brilliance and unique talent of Rajat is understood with one simple example-he was ranked 15th in the country in the entrance exam conducted by Indian Institutes of Technology.
His life experienced a twist in the year 2010, when Raj Rajaratnam, a hedge fund manager and founder of Galleon Group from Sri Lanka was accused of insider trading. Gupta was arrested by FBI towards the end of 2011 for disclosing the earnings of his company (Goldman Sachs) to Rajaratnam, and Galleon Group is said to have benefited a lot from the information provided. Gupta is said to have passed information about Warren Buffet’s decision to invest $5 billion in Goldman Sachs to Rajaratnam. As a result, Rajaratnam was able to buy the stock and make a profit of $800,000, before the news was made public.
The fact that Gupta committed the crime when the company faced serious financial crisis added more seriousness to the offense. During Rajaratnam’s trial, his conversations with Gupta, were played on tape which gained wide spread attention and disrepute. Rajaratnam was heard talking about Rajat Gupta saying. “I think he wants to be in that circle. That’s a billionaire circle, right? Goldman is like the hundreds of millions circle, right? And I think here he sees the opportunity to make $100 million over the next five years or 10 years without doing a lot of work.’’
The trial of Rajat Gupta, who is charged of security frauds and conspiracy started few days before in a New York court and the trial is expected to last for three weeks. We will have to wait and see what his fate turns out to be!
