Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta admitted he made “errors and misjudgments” after serving a two-year prison-term on insider trading charges, and apologised for letting his friends and fellow IIT associates down. In one of his first public comments on his insider trading conviction, Gupta spoke to an IIT alumni event in California.
“While I continue to fight the injustice in my case, I have to candidly admit that I made errors and misjudgments and for that I take full responsibility,” Gupta said as he addressed the second annual 'IIT Bay Area Leadership Conference' held in Santa Clara. An IIT-Delhi and Harvard Business School alumnus, Gupta expressed regret for failing to be a role model to all the young people in leading institutions he was associated with. “They made me who I am and I was also fortunate enough to play a leadership role that shaped many of these institutions. But most importantly I aspired to be a role model for many of the young people who were part of these institutions, who looked up to me.”
Gupta also added, “One of my greatest regrets is I did let them down. I want to apologise to all of you that I really did not live up to the highest standards you would have rightly expected me to do. I genuinely ask for forgiveness and understanding.”
Gupta expressed “regret” that five years of his life were taken away from him when he could have used them to contribute to philanthropic causes. Sounding a philosophical tone, Gupta said that his prison term has made him a “better person and better able to serve the institutions I so dearly like.”
