Rajat Gupta, the head honcho who was caught in the scam with Rajaratnam, the fund manager of Galleon. Little do we realize what was his crime … his crime was to provide information that he was privy to, to the hedge fund manager. In a world where markets are made on information asymmetry, the price of information can sometimes be very high. Rajat Gupta who had pleaded non-guilty had to provide a bail of 10 million USD. That’s whopping … but what’s worse that his otherwise impeccable profile has now been embellished with the marks of corruption and scam.
I am sure that over a period he will reach a compromise agreement with his organization. In case if you do not know what compromise agreement is, then click the link. The price that the top guy paid for this is with a dream career. A career path which most IITians only dream about. The question is, were the risks taken by the duo really worth this? Are there other modern Gordon Geckos out there who trade their integrity for hard cash?
What is the sad part from this story is that this one mistake shadows a lifetime of achievements. Being one of the only 5 non-media people in the world to interview the Prime Minister of India, being an advisor to the United Nations … all now lies in ruins of shame and regret. The ripples of this fiasco will shake some of the most well known educational institutions in the country … right from IIT Delhi and IIM Ahemadabad (where he graduated) to ISB (which he founded). Places where values such as Ethics and Corporate Responsibility are given the utmost of importance in pedagogy.
Was this price of information really worth it?