The Billionaire's Apprentice
Books | Business & Economics / Industries / Financial Services
Anita Raghavan
“The best account yet of Rajaratnam and his Indian American 'mafia’—who they were, what they did and how they did it.” ―The Washington PostJust as WASPs, Irish-Catholics and Our Crowd Jews once made the ascent from immigrants to powerbrokers, it is now the Indian-American's turn. Citigroup, PepsiCo and Mastercard are just a handful of the Fortune 500 companies led by a group known as the “Twice Blessed.” Yet little is known about how these Indian emigres (and children of emigres) rose through the ranks. Until now . . .The collapse of the Galleon Group—a hedge fund that managed more than $7 billion in assets—from criminal charges of insider trading was a sensational case that pitted prosecutor Preet Bharara, himself the son of Indian immigrants, against the best and brightest of the South Asian business community. At the center of the case was self-described King of Kings, Galleon's founder Raj Rajaratnam, a Sri-Lankan-born, Wharton-educated billionaire. But the most shocking allegation was that the éminence grise of Indian business, Rajat Gupta, was Rajaratnam's accomplice and mole. If not for Gupta's nose-to-the-grindstone rise to head up McKinsey & Co and a position on the Goldman Sachs board, men like Rajaratnam would have never made it to the top of America's moneyed elite.Author Anita Raghavan criss-crosses the globe from Wall Street boardrooms to Delhi's Indian Institute of Technology as she uncovers the secrets of this subculture—an incredible tale of triumph, temptation and tragedy.“Through meticulous research, copious history, vivid characters, and entertaining prose, Raghavan weaves together many different worlds, eras, and personality types to deliver a compelling view of the multi-cultural politics of today's Wall Street.” ―Huffington Post
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Author
Anita Raghavan
Pages
391
Publisher
Hachette+ORM
Published Date
2011-02-01
ISBN
1455504033 9781455504039
Community ReviewsSee all
"Full review and highlights at <a href="https://books.max-nova.com/billionaires-apprentice">https://books.max-nova.com/billionaires-apprentice</a><br/><br/>In college, I remember watching the collapse of the Galleon Group, one of the world's largest hedge funds, but I didn't appreciate the unique place that Galleon held within the Indian American community. "The Billionaire's Apprentice" details the Galleon Group insider trading scandal of 2009 and the central role that the Indian American immigrants played on both sides of the case. Raghavan explains how the "twice-blessed" wave of Indian immigrants to America in the 1970's hustled their way to positions of wealth and power, sometimes cutting corners along the way. Raghavan's book traces the rise and fall of Rajat Gupta, the first Indian head of the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm. Climbing to the highest levels of establishment influence and power (including a seat on the board of Goldman Sachs), Gupta ended his career in disgrace after becoming embroiled in the Galleon Group insider trading scandal. He served time in federal prison with his co-conspirator and fellow South Asian Raj Rajaratnam (see Raghavan's article in the NYT about their awkward prison meetings).<br/><br/>Raghavan portrays Gupta as hard-working, philanthropic, corporate climber who lost his way as he aspired to ever-higher levels of financial success. Galleon founder Rajaratnam comes off as much sleazier character, the operator of a vast network of South Asians at tech companies and hedge funds who supplied him with a trove of insider information. Raghavan connects the dots between these two men and the many other players in the interconnected web of this case, but some things still don't add up. As Raghavan notes:<blockquote>In the Galleon case, for instance, the government alleged that Rajaratnam pocketed as much as $75 million from his illegal trades. Compared to Rajaratnam’s net worth of $1.3 billion at one time, the sum pales.</blockquote>If Rajaratnam was already making so much money, what could have possibly justified the risk of his insider trading activity? There seem to be only two explanations. Either Rajaratnam was a pathological gambler, or the majority of Galleon was built on insider information and the government only uncovered a tiny portion of it. Unfortunately, Raghavan never addresses this question.<br/><br/>Overall, "The Billionaire's Apprentice" was a nice introduction to the world of insider trading and white-collar crime. This book was part of my 2018 reading theme on <a href="https://books.max-nova.com/2018-focus">"Crime and Punishment."</a>"
Max Nova