This book had been on my radar since so many years that I have lost count. Everytime I wanted to pick it up (as in pick up the iPad on which I read), some distraction would head my way. Anita Raghavan traces the rise of Rajat Gupta and Raj Rajaratnam and how their lives intersected in one of the most high-profile corporate scandals of the last decade. Rajat Gupta was the ‘big boy’, hobnobbing with Presidents, Prime Ministers, CEOs, Board Members, Venture Capitalists, and, of course, the head at The Firm (McKinsey) multiple times. Raj, a self-made, bravado-dripping, an MBA from Wharton, had founded Galleon Hedge fund and was later held guilty of insider trading based on his various contacts within different firms and industries.
However, the beauty of the book is not about the boring proceedings of the court (which are covered in extensive detail towards the last few chapters as boringly as one could), but in the way Anita has covered all the characters as human beings who were not just about money, stocks, and finance but who had personalities, like Raj always being the boisterous boy, Rajat the unperturbed thinker, Kumar the aloof one with supremacist attitude and so on.
The book is a must read on how often insider information was (and probably still is) being shared around big time investors and other players. It also highlights the fact that Preet Bharara had taken it upon himself to bring down the South Asian folks, probably to buttress his own prospects with the government. When Preet denies, for example, not knowing that Rajat Gupta’s indictment was on Diwali, it is impossible to believe! A person with Indian parents and who regularly interacts with the South Asian community not knowing it is Diwali is like a doctor not knowing hba1c.
My only grouse is that the book was quite dense in the details. While they were needed when it came to how information was shared, but really when it came to profiling the complete background of Gupta’s father and grandfather during British rule in India.
Nonetheless, a good, gripping book. I finally read it, 9 years late nonetheless. However, there is more the story. I would also be reading Gupta’s version and Raj’s version on the same. Anita has been as impartial as anyone can be, but it doesn’t hurt to hear from the horse’s mouth!
Withered Papyrus 