Table of Contents
Cast of Characters xi
Prologue The Twice Blessed 1
Part 1 Discovery
Chapter 1 "Who Will Show Me the Way in the World?" 11
Chapter 2 "I Respectfully Decline to Answer the Question" 21
Chapter 3 A Family Affair 33
Chapter 4 Drama at IIT 39
Chapter 5 Birdie Trades 48
Chapter 6 Promises to Keep 56
Chapter 7 The Good Ship Galleon 62
Part 2 Rising
Chapter 8 No Ask Hacks 77
Chapter 9 "The Tamil Tiger" of Wall Street 85
Chapter 10 Up or Out at McKinsey 93
Chapter 11 The Camera Never Lies 104
Chapter 12 The Corner Office 116
Chapter 13 Raj's Edge 125
Chapter 14 Building Offshore-istan 128
Chapter 15 Partying and Polycom 143
Chapter 16 Playing for Team USA 158
Chapter 17 The Wharton Mafia 166
Chapter 18 Reeling in Roomy 173
Part 3 Falling
Chapter 19 Moonlighting at McKinsey 183
Chapter 20 A Vanaprastha on the Hudson 195
Chapter 21 The Dishonorable Dosco 204
Chapter 22 On the New Silk Route 212
Chapter 23 The Million-Dollar Man 220
Chapter 24 "You've Gotta Be a Hustler" 234
Chapter 25 The Richest Maid in Silicon Valley 240
Chapter 26 The Wire 253
Chapter 27 "I Played Him Like a Finely Tuned Piano" 264
Chapter 28 A Friend on the Board 273
Chapter 29 A Tragic Call 277
Chapter 30 "Buy Goldman Sachs, Buy Goldman Sachs" 285
Chapter 31 Trading at the Setai 295
Chapter 32 Handcuffs for Breakfast 305
Part 4 Trials
Chapter 33 "Why Is It So Quiet Around Here?" 317
Chapter 34 "He's a Bad Man" 333
Chapter 35 The Gupta File 342
Chapter 36 Kumar Sings 355
Chapter 37 An Unhappy Diwali 372
Chapter 38 Et Tu, Kumar? 379
Chapter 39 A Family Secret 400
Afterword 411
Acknowledgments 417
A Note on Methodology 421
Notes 427
Index 479
About the Author 493