Rajat Gupta steps down from Gates Foundation as Galleon case proceeds
RAJAT Gupta, the former head of McKinsey, has stepped down from his role as a senior adviser to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation while he defends himself against insider trading charges related to Galleon Group head Raj Rajaratnam.
Gupta has already resigned from the Indian Business School and other directorships including Procter & Gamble and American Airlines.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission laid charges against him this month over links with Rajaratnam, and Gupta has denied any wrongdoing.
US prosecutors say Rajaratnam, the founder of Galleon Group, illegally made $45m (£28m) from 2003 to 2009 in stock trades based on tips from insiders, including highly placed executives in the corporate US.
Rajaratnam maintains his trades were based on his own research and publicly available information.
The Gates Foundation said Gupta had taken the decision to step down last week.
It stated: “Rajat has stepped down from his role on the Foundation’s Global Development advisory panel until these matters are resolved.”
Gupta had chaired the panel, which is one of several at the foundation. It meets twice a year and was last convened in February.
It was designed to draw in more senior outsiders, partly over criticism that the foundation was unaccountable beyond Mr Gates, his wife Melinda, and Warren Buffett, their co-trustee.