| Anil Kumar | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958 Chennai, India |
| Residence | New Delhi, India New York City, NY, USA Saratoga, CA, USA |
| Ethnicity | Indian-American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | IIT Bombay Imperial College London The Wharton School |
| Occupation | Consultant, Management expert |
| Years active | 1986-2009 |
| Employer | McKinsey & Company, Inc. |
| Known for | Knowledge Process Outsourcing Business Process Outsourcing |
| Salary | $ 5 - 10 million + (estimate) |
| Net worth | $ 50 - 100 million + (estimate) |
| Title | (Former) Senior Partner |
| Spouse | Malvika |
| Children | 1 |
Anil Kumar (born 1958) was a longtime top senior partner and director at management consultancy McKinsey & Company, the co-founder of the Indian School of Business with Rajat Gupta, and the creator of two different types of outsourcing. He graduated from The Doon School and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in India, Imperial College London in the UK, and The Wharton School in the US.
In 2010 Kumar pleaded guilty to insider trading in a dramatic “descent from the pinnacle of the business world.”[1]
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Kumar was “one of McKinsey’s most senior employees [and] brightest stars,”[2] where he pioneered the concepts of Knowledge Process Outsourcing and Business Process Outsourcing.[3] He was a protégé of longtime former managing director (chief executive) Rajat Gupta,[4][5] though following Gupta's retirement never ran in the elections for chief executive himself.[6][7] Anticipating the rise of India and Silicon Valley, he co-founded (and later directed) McKinsey offices in Silicon Valley in the 1980s and in India in the 1990s. During the dot-com bubble he headed McKinsey's technology and Internet consulting operations, where he and Gupta created a program to allow the firm to accept stock in lieu of consulting fees.[8][9] At McKinsey Kumar was Chairman of the Knowledge Center and Chairman of the Asia Center, among others.[10][11] He was a director and corporate officer of the firm. He lived and worked from multiple offices in New Delhi, New York, and Silicon Valley, traveling over thirty thousand miles a month.[12][13]
Kumar co-founded the Indian School of Business in 1997, today ranked among the top 15 business schools in the world by The Financial Times.[14][15] He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Young Presidents' Organization, a founding charter member of TiE, and was the US chairman of India's largest business lobby, the Confederation of Indian Industry.[16]
Criticism of Kumar centered around his close relationship with Gupta and a perception of arrogance. According to The Financial Times, “as much as Mr Kumar was admired for his business ability and sharpness, he also drew fire for what was seen as his arrogance.”[16]
Kumar remained hidden from the media and outside McKinsey until a 2009 arrest in conjunction with an ongoing and wide-ranging US governmental investigation into insider trading.[17] Former mentor Rajat Gupta was later arrested by the FBI in a related case,[18] prompting inquiries into McKinsey’s senior leadership and business model.[19][20]
As of December 2009, Kumar was no longer at the consultancy.[21] In January 2010 he pleaded guilty to insider trading charges[22] and was the government’s star witness in March 2011 in U.S. v Rajaratnam against his billionaire friend and Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam.[23][24] In the sprawling case his involvement was unusual; according to a Reuters blog, “He’s the only informant who could be considered even more successful than Raj was, at least professionally if not in terms of raw cash. Raj had money, more money than he really knew what to do with, but Kumar had much more societal acceptance and prestige.”[25] He settled with the SEC in May 2010 for $2.8 million, the amount after gains he received from Rajaratnam through a Swiss bank account in a domestic worker's name.[26] Gupta, Rajaratnam, and Kumar were all close friends and had founded the $1.3-billion private equity firm New Silk Route together, though Rajaratnam and Kumar withdrew before the firm began operation.[27]
Kumar was represented by attorney Robert Morvillo, who had previously led billionaire Martha Stewart’s defense in her own insider trading case.[28][29]
International media, business, and finance industry observers have analyzed extensively his actions in aiding Rajaratnam.[1][30][31][32] Consensus remains divided on the precise motivators of money, respect, and relationship, with The New York Times asking, “Why would people who seem to have it all — wealth, prestige, powerful jobs and infinite access to others with the same — risk that, and more, to provide inside information to the Sri Lankan-born billionaire?”[33] Rajaratnam's annual payments were estimated at less than 5% of Kumar's annual income (and just 1-2% excluding a one-time bonus), further raising the question of motivation.[34]
Kumar maintained a low personal and professional profile externally, though was friends with other leaders in technology and Indian business such as telecom mogul Sunil Mittal.[27]
He lived and worked for decades in New Delhi, New York, and Silicon Valley simultaneously. He had a Manhattan apartment in the Time Warner Center and a “housekeeper in Saratoga, California.”[13]