Rajat k. gupta biography

Now orphans, Gupta and his siblings "decided to live by ourselves. It was pretty unusual in those days. He was a student at Modern School in New Delhi. Gupta graduated with distinction as a Baker Scholar. He was initially rejected because of inadequate work experience, a decision that was overturned after his Harvard Business School professor Walter J.

Gupta's mentors at McKinsey included Ron Daniel, the former managing director who as senior partner first hired Gupta into the New York office, and Anupam Tino Puri, the first Indian at the firm and eventual senior partner. Gupta and Kumar "were the face of McKinsey in India. Gupta began his career in New York before moving to Scandinavia to become the head of McKinsey offices in He did well in what was then considered a "backwater" area; this is where he first made his mark.

In he was elected the firm's first managing director chief executive born outside of the US, and then re-elected twice in and Gupta is widely regarded as one of the first Indians to successfully break through the glass ceiling , as the first Indian-born CEO of a multinational corporation not just a consultancy. However Gupta's tenure was marked by controversy.

When Gupta joined McKinsey, it was a small partnership run according to the high standards of its early leader, Marvin Bower, but by the time Gupta became managing director, McKinsey was under pressure from an increasingly competitive market, and Gupta's expansion efforts were said to have watered down McKinsey's vaunted principles. During the dot-com bubble he and Anil Kumar created a program for McKinsey to accept payment from its clients in stock.

Gupta's accountability for the shifting of standards was weighed differently by different observers, and some defended him noting that the managing director's job was like trying to "herd cats"; Gupta himself described it as "a sort of servant-leader job," with "at least , if not , leaders". After completing three full terms the maximum allowed, by a rule he had himself initiated and nearly a decade as head of the firm, Gupta became senior partner again in and senior partner emeritus in Gupta reportedly began to express a certain resentment about money, as his peers in Silicon Valley and Wall Street including McKinsey's private equity clients at the time "raking in staggering amounts of money while Gupta soldiered on with a mere senior partner's millions".

Gupta maintained an office, executive assistant, email and phone at McKinsey and Company after , [ 17 ] and maintained the title "senior partner emeritus" of the firm. Gupta has served on several corporate boards as a director during his career. He also served on the board of AMR , the parent company of American Airlines , from until , and on the board of Harman International from to Gupta has also served as a director of various financial groups.

In addition to his work at Goldman Sachs, Gupta served as an advisory partner with Fjord Capital Partners [ 30 ] and as chairman of the advisory board for Clutch Group. Gupta was also a member of the advisory board for OmniCapital Group. Gupta's philanthropic, charitable, and volunteer efforts mainly focus on the areas of education, global health, and global business.

In the past, Gupta has been involved with a number of universities and other educational institutions, volunteering and serving as chairman and member of several boards and councils. As of , he has either resigned or taken leaves of absence from the boards on which he served as director or chairman. In June , Gupta was elected to the University of Chicago's board of trustees.

He was chairman and served on the advisory board. With Anil Kumar, Gupta co-founded the Indian School of Business, and was chairman of the governing and executive boards. Gupta was a member of the Dean's advisory board of Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management , and was on the board of Skolkovo. He served from April to March He remained in that position until resigning in March In addition, he was the co-founder and co-chairman of the American India Foundation AIF , the largest diaspora philanthropy organization focused on India and based out of the US.

Throughout his career, Gupta has been a part of various global business initiatives. On March 1, , the SEC filed an administrative civil complaint against Gupta for insider trading with billionaire and Galleon Group hedge fund founder Rajaratnam. Coverage of the event noted that Anil Kumar — who, like Gupta, had graduated from IIT , was a highly regarded senior partner at McKinsey, and had also co-founded the Indian School of Business — had already pleaded guilty to charges in the same case.

Gupta countersued and both sides eventually dropped charges. Gupta's lawyer wrote, "Any allegation that Rajat Gupta engaged in any unlawful conduct is totally baseless He did not trade in any securities, did not tip Mr. Rajaratnam so he could trade, and did not share in any profits as part of any quid pro quo. Attorney Preet Bharara said, "Rajat Gupta was entrusted by some of the premier institutions of American business to sit inside their boardrooms , among their executives and directors, and receive their confidential information so that he could give advice and counsel.

Details of wiretap recordings and trading activity related to the charges were analyzed at length in the media, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the prosecution's and defense's cases. The case focused on the relationship between Rajaratnam, Kumar and Gupta. Gupta's jury trial began on May 22, He was found not guilty on two other securities fraud charges.

At the time, his lawyer told reporters, "We will be moving to set aside the verdict and will, if necessary, appeal the conviction. As one service option, the latter suggested Gupta "work on health care and agriculture in rural Rwanda". The defense argued Gupta "never profited on the alleged trading" per one news account. His prison sentence began on June Gupta was released from federal prison on January 5, , on house arrest and required to live at his Manhattan home.

In establishing its global presence, Gupta explains, McKinsey has adopted a modus operandi to ensure that the all-important values of the organization - "a meritocracy dedicated to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity" - are maintained regardless of location. We believe this approach gives us a competitive advantage in the host country.

Other recent efforts have focused on topics such as the forces shaping the world economy, the nature of the corporation in the 21st century, and emerging-market opportunities. Gupta acknowledges that he himself was anything but worldly when he received his undergraduate degree in engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Elected managing director the first non-Westerner to hold that position in at the age of 45, Gupta stresses that his duties bear little resemblance to those of a corporate CEO.

He studied at Modern School, New Delhi, and after completing high school, he successfully passed the entrance exams for the Indian Institutes of Technology. Rajat ranked 15th among the top students in the country. In , he earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Despite receiving a lucrative job offer from the prestigious Indian company 'ITC Limited', Rajat decided to continue his studies.

Rajat k. gupta biography

They have four sons together. Initially, he was rejected due to his lack of work experience, but one of his professors, Walter Salmon, helped him secure the desired job. After spending some time in New York, Gupta was transferred to Scandinavia, an area that was previously considered unpromising. However, he excelled in this role, impressing the company's executives and confirming Salmon's recommendation.

He served as the head of the Chicago office in and became the first non-American CEO of the firm in