Mind Without Fear
The Extraordinary Story of the Rise and Fall of a Global Business Icon
By Rajat Gupta, former Managing Director of McKinsey & Co.
Rosetta Books (2019)
Rajat Gupta was the first foreign-born person to headMcKinsey & Co, the world’s most influential management consultancy. He sat on the boards of distinguished philanthropic institutions and corporations. In 2011, to the shock of the international business community, Gupta was charged with insider trading. Against the backdrop of public rage and recrimination that followed the financial crisis, he was found guilty and sentenced to two years in jail. Throughout his trial and imprisonment, Gupta has maintained his innocence. In these pages, for the first time, he tells his side of the story in the scandal that destroyed his career and reputation.
“Without Ellen Daly, my book would never have been completed. She was by my side throughout the process—patient, encouraging, disciplined, and creative, with an uncanny ability to be true to my voice. She made it easy for me to open up to her, make myself vulnerable, and be able to put my real feelings in the book. I am truly grateful for all her help and support and in the process am privileged to have gained a true friend.”
“A propulsive narrative . . .
Filled with boldfaced names from business and politics . . . at times, it is a dishy score settler.”
—Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times
“[A] message of redemption, rehabilitation, and rebirth . . .
Gupta is no ordinary citizen seeking to explain his actions favourably: he is a fallen angel. While business executives routinely fall from grace—GE’s Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt are great examples of mighty CEOs whose reputations have taken a tumble—rarely has somebody of Gupta’s stature been packed off to purgatory in full glare of the world’s media. Gupta’s book, written over two years, tackles multiple themes. There is betrayal and hurt by close friends and institutions, particularly . . . the global consulting giant that he once headed and helped grow. He calls out colleagues who twisted the knife where it hurt the most, and questions McKinsey, which dumped him with no remorse. There is disillusionment with the idea of America. . . . Through all this Gupta skillfully tells the story of his life. Mind Without Fear is Gupta’s ultimate throw of the gauntlet at all naysayers. . . . Whatever else he may admit to, he doesn’t demonstrate any penitence. . . but that’s exactly what makes Gupta a literary character for the ages, his life a parable for humanity’s virtues and vices.”
—D. N. Mukerjea, Fortune India
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