Headline, March15, 2014

"' O' O" -DEAR : SOME BILLIONAIR​ES

 APPRENTICE > THAT !!! "'

JUST.   - allow me one very silly and outrageous insight, and say : ""That Life's living is a......  "strategic industry">""

Now, see, if you all........ can decipher that?!!  Let's have you ask your revered professors?!!!

And if they can't answer, let's consider..... "" Hanging them "",.......from the nearest pole? Hahaha!    Alright, alright, fun time over, and now back to the "context"     of this very rare post:

The contemporary Indian tycoon is supposedly a decadent sort:

Swanning about in luxury boats and skyscrapers with  Bollywood stars  while living off inherited empires built on political connections that churn out cash, cash and cash.

Yet, yet, yet, for all the visible swagger,  Indian business is in reality a very,  very fierce Darwinian struggle........!!! 

Having said and set the meta sweep, I now get on with the story:

ANITA RAGHAVAN'S  new book,  "'The Billionaires Apprentice",  purports to chronicle :

"The rise of the Indian-American elite".  No, it does not!

Rather, it describes the rise and fall two members of that elite: Raj Rajaratnam, e hedge-fund boss, and Rajat Gupta>:

 A former head of McKinsey,   "the world's most prestigious consultancy".

Mr Rajaratnam is the money man; Mr Gupta, his apprentice. Mr Rajaratnam is a straightforward scoundrel but a brilliant mathematician:

He could have grown wealthy honestly. Instead he amassed  " $5 billion " fortune by trading on the inside information.

He cultivated a broad network of tipsters inside large companies who, for generous fees, slipped him nuggets that had not yet been made public.

Because he genuinely knew a lot about the companies on which he placed bets:

He had a team of expert analysts studying them  -he managed for a very, very long time to convince the world that his success was based on some very good judgement.

But he was cheat, even in small things. Applying for permission to build a second kitchen in his New York flat, he cited his need to adhere "to Jewish traditions".

This  'seemed a stretch for a Hindu", notes Ms Raghavan, a former journalist for the Wall Street Journal and Forbes.

And it should come as no surprise to you at all to learn that Mr Rajaratnam ended up in prison!

Mr Gupta's story is both more interesting and more tragic. Until he was in his mid-50s, he lived an exemplary life. His father, an Indian revolutionary jailed by the British, died when he was 15.

The young Mr Gupta studied hard to win admission to the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and then to Harvard Business School.

He joined McKinsey and rose up the ranks through hard work, intelligence and a reputation for integrity.

In his early days he lived frugally and saved to support his brother and sister in India.

He owned two cheap shirts  -"one to wash and one to iron for the next day". Within a year, he had sent enough money home for his siblings to build a house.

He became the consultancy's first foreign boss, at a time when the business was globalising.

He saw how cheaper communications would make it possible to outsource various types of work to India, and made sure that McKinsey surfed that wave.

""He became one of the most respected businessmen in the world"".

President Barrack Obama invited him to the White House. Manmohan Singh, India's Prime Minister, answered his phone calls.

He retired with a golden reputation and more money than anyone could reasonably spend  -an estimated $100m. He had everything but it was not enough. He socialised with billionaires and wanted to be one.

"When I look at myself, yeah, I am driven by money."  he admitted to an audience of students.

This remarkable and educating post continues:

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of the world. See Ya all on   !WOW!  -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

"' All The Great Prizes "'

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless