Raj Rajaratnam — LLMpedia

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Raj Rajaratnam is a Sri Lankan American financier and former hedge fund manager known for founding the Galleon Group and for his high-profile conviction in a major insider trading case. He became one of the most prominent figures in Wall Street finance during the 2000s before his arrest led to landmark legal proceedings involving multiple corporations, executives, and regulatory agencies. His prosecution involved collaboration between the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Early life and education

Born in Colombo, Rajaratnam emigrated to the United States and attended Newton South High School in Massachusetts. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was affiliated with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, before earning a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His early mentors and connections included figures from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Salomon Brothers, and alumni networks tied to Ivy League institutions. During his formative years he interacted with classmates and faculty who later joined firms such as Citigroup, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank, and UBS.

After graduating, he worked in roles at CIBC, Needham & Company, and other investment firms, developing relationships with traders and analysts across New York City and San Francisco. In 1997 he founded the Galleon Group, a New York-based hedge fund that specialized in technology and healthcare investments and counted investors from Silicon Valley, NASDAQ, NASDAQ-100, and international capital markets. Galleon made stakes in companies including Google, Yahoo!, Intel Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Amgen, Gilead Sciences, and Biogen and engaged with corporate events like initial public offerings, mergers involving Cisco Systems and Microsoft, and strategic moves by firms such as IBM, HP Inc., and Apple Inc.. Rajaratnam sat on advisory boards and formed ties with executives at McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Kleiner Perkins, and venture capitalists from Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz.

Allegations of illegal trading prompted investigations by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, leading to wiretaps and subpoenas covering communications with analysts and company insiders at McKinsey & Company, Intel Corporation, Google, Purdue Pharma, Biogen, and AMD. The probe examined contacts with portfolio managers, investment bankers at Morgan Stanley, research analysts from Goldman Sachs, and executives at Palm Inc., Microsoft, Dell Technologies, and Wyeth. In October 2009 he was arrested in a sweep that included other finance professionals and businessmen linked to trading in shares of Google, Clearwire, AIG, Galleon Group affiliates, and biotech firms; the charges were brought under statutes including the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and federal conspiracy laws. The case drew scrutiny from media outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg L.P., Financial Times, and Reuters.

The trial involved testimony from cooperating witnesses, including hedge fund managers and consultants who had dealt with executives at Intel Corporation, Google, Dell Technologies, McKinsey & Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Pfizer. Prosecution evidence relied on recorded conversations, trading records from exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, and analysis by experts from firms like KPMG and Ernst & Young. In 2011 he was convicted on multiple counts of conspiracy and securities fraud in a case overseen by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Sentencing cited comparable cases involving figures from Sacramento, Hong Kong, and London markets; he received a prison term and a significant fine, with judges referencing precedents in rulings from the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

Appeals were filed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit challenging aspects of the evidence and procedures used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecutors; these appeals referenced decisions involving defendants from Enron, Madoff, and other securities cases. Some convictions and sentences in related prosecutions were affected by cooperation agreements and further litigation involving figures at Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company, and various hedge funds. After serving part of his sentence at federal facilities, he was released to home confinement; subsequent developments included civil actions by the Securities and Exchange Commission and settlements with investors and former colleagues. Post-release activities involved interactions with legal scholars at Harvard Law School, commentators at Columbia Law School, and discussions about reforms involving the Attorney General of the United States's guidelines and congressional hearings in the United States Congress.

He maintained residences in New York City and Sri Lanka and had social and philanthropic ties with institutions such as Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Harvard University, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and charitable organizations operating in South Asia. His donations and board memberships intersected with educational initiatives, healthcare projects linked to Johns Hopkins Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, and cultural programs associated with the Smithsonian Institution and museums in New York City and Colombo. Family connections included relatives active in Sri Lankan business circles and professional networks spanning London, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Category:1957 births Category:People from Colombo Category:American hedge fund managers