The Inside Men

Rajat Gupta, a man with exemplary personal qualities, has shocked the whole world with his remarkable rise and inexplicable fall. The former McKinsey & Co head honcho was sentenced two year jail custody along with a hefty penalty of $5 million fine. What comes in a bigger bummer is the fact that nowhere in his apology statement has he apologized for his actions, albeit he profusely apologizes to the people and institutions who were unintended victims of his conviction. His crime? A crime that is notoriously hard to nail: insider trading. As a director on board of Goldman Sachs, Rajat was privy to crucial information regarding an investment bank which was supposed to get a huge investment. Gupta leaked this information to his good friend, the Sri Lanka-born Raj Rajaratnam, who promptly bought shares in the bank that he later sold at a huge profit.

Vikram Pandit, former CEO Citigroup Inc., sent tremors to the Wall Street abruptly after months of simmering tension between him and the board of directors. Within minutes of the bank's announcement, Pandit's name was gone from Citigroup's website. The board's relationship with Pandit was already under pressure after shareholders rejected the CEO's pay package in an advisory vote in April. He was awarded more than $15 million in 2011 compensation, but 55 percent of shareholders voted against it. The pay issue was thought to still be a source of friction internally. Various reports popped all over the internet on how Pandit was blindsided when he walked into Citi’s chairman’s office. Apparently he reported higher earnings on the same day.

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From the November 2012 issue of FHM India.