Man Whom I Deeply Admire

There is this man whom I deeply admire.

The story of his dramatic rise and an even more dramatic fall, is surely what legends are made of.

• Born in Calcutta to a middle-class Bengali family in 1948, he went on to live in Delhi since 1953.
• Lost his father at the tender age of 16.
• Lost his mother at a ripe age of 18.
• Now, orphaned, with three siblings to take care of, took a resolve to change his life, and the world, forever.
• Cleared the then-toughest exam, IIT-JEE and joined the IIT Delhi in 1966.
• Met the love of his life, a pretty Kashmiri girl who was two years junior to him in college. He would later marry her, and be together with her for the next 45 years in marital bliss.
• Graduated from IIT Delhi in 1971. Was able to crack the placements. Got an offer from ITC Ltd, one of the most prestigious domestic companies to visit the campus then, back in 1971.
• Any man, who has lost both his parents, had 03 siblings to take care of, who was in love with his college-mate would take the high-paying job offer and live happily ever after.
• But, he had other plans.
• He wanted to take over the world. He applied for the prestigious Harvard Business School in his final year.
• Pursuing an MBA, way back in 1971, was very rare for Indians and not many Indians would apply to it, especially an international one. Most of his classmates were applying for MS and PhD, whereas, he knew what exactly he had to do.
• Got an admit from Harvard Business School. One of the first Indians to get into the college.
• He flies to ITC, for the first time in an airplane, to inform them that he would be declining their offer to join HBS.
• Graduates from HBS in 1973, as a Baker Scholar (Distinction).
• He applies for a job with McKinsey, one of the elite Consulting firms in New York then.
• He was rejected because he did not have any job experience, and also because he was an Indian-American, one of the first to apply for the jobs, in 1973.
• Hearing his rejection, his professor, Walter J Salmon at Harvard was shocked, and immediately wrote a letter to Ron Daniel, the head of the New York office of McKinsey saying the company will miss a bright and capable person.
• He joined one of the most prestigious and elite firms, McKinsey, in 1973, as one of the first Indian-American minority.
• And he soon rose.
• And rose more.
• Within 08 years of joining, in 1981, he was made the head of the McKinsey offices in Scandinavia.
• Was elected Senior Partner of McKinsey in 1984, with an overwhelming majority.
• He started mentoring and grooming other Indian-Americans by then.
• He then became the head of the Chicago office in 1990.
• And within 04 years, he completely rose to become the first ever global Managing Director of McKinsey, who was born outside the US.
• He practically broke the glass ceiling, where the upper CXO level management was till now occupied by White, Male Americans only.
• He became the first Indian-born CEO of an American MNC.
• Was re-elected in 1997.
• Under his directions, the firm opened its offices in 23 more countries, doubled its consultant base, and increased revenue by 280%.
• When he joined McKinsey, it was just a small partnership, with an elite client base. By the time his tenure ended, it became a true MNC with its offices in almost every important country on earth.
• He was re-elected again in 2000.
• This time, he made a rule that any person can be elected as the MD for only three terms. This would ensure that he can focus on other activities and not just McKinsey.
• He stepped down as the MD of McKinsey in 2003, and continued being just a senior partner since then.
• He became a Board Member of Goldman Sachs, Procter & Gamble, the Russian bank Sberbank, Harman International, GenPact and American Airlines.
• He was an advisor to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Clutch Group, Fjord Capital, OmniCapital, New Silk Route and many more Fortune companies and non-profits.
• He was the Chairman of the Board of Associates at Harvard Business School. He was a member of the Board of Governors at Wharton.
• He was elected to the University of Chicago’s Board of Trustees. He was a member of the Yale’s President Council.
• He served on the Dean’s Advisory Council at MIT Sloan and on the advisory board of Kellogg School of Management.
• He was a Member of the Dean’s Advisory Board of Tsinghua University, and served on the board of Skolkovo. He was also on the Board of Pratham India Initiative.
• He then became a Founding Member of the Young India Fellowship. He is the former Co-Chairman of the United Nations Association of America.
• After understanding the admission processes of all the global Business schools, he became disillusioned with the outdated admission process of the IIMs, which give sole importance to just one aspect, one exam, the CAT, which tests only English and Math. And not a person’s overall personality.
• So, to improve the country’s Business schools and to bring a global exposure, he co-founded the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.

He lived the life of a humble King. He overcame many obstacles to reach the pinnacle of his life.

His determination is what I admire about him.

His passion for excellence is what I admire about him.

His talent in rising the corporate ladder is what I admire about him.

He is none other than…

Rajat Gupta

• By 2012, he was a corporate superstar.
• And then his descent began.
• In 2012, he was convicted for insider trading charges. And was imprisoned suddenly for a 02 year prison term, 01 additional year of supervised release and a $5 million fine.
• He had filed for an appeal with the Federal Appeals Court in 2014. No use.
• He had filed for another appeal with the US Supreme Court. No use.
• He completed his 02 year prison term from June 2014 to January 2016. He was then released from House Arrest also in March 2016.
• Here is a letter that he wrote to his friends from prison. You can see the amount of positivity he has in himself - Had a good time in prison: Rajat Gupta
• Now, at the age of 70, the once-King of the US Corporate World is spending his retirement happily and at peace.
• I hope he does a last, one-time come-back and shake the corporate world again