Raj Rajaratnam among 400 richest Americans
Mr. Raj Rajaratnam, who together with his Galleon Fund is one of the biggest shareholders of John Keells Holdings (JKH), has been ranked No.262 in the Forbes Magazine’s list of 400 Richest Americans.
Rajaratnam, a self-made billionaire, has a net worth of US$ 1.8 billion according to the respected Forbes publication.
Now 51 years old, he is married with three children, and has substantial investments in some well known companies other than JKH listed on the Colombo bourse.
He took a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Sussex in the UK before taking a MBA from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
His father who was a senior Singer executive here later ran the Asian operation for the multinational from New York.
Rajaratnam had an early career as an investment banker in Needham & Company of which he became President in 1991, the Forbes Rich List said.
Six years later he founded the hedge fund Galleon group, "making big bets on healthcare and technology companies" and today manages US$ 7.5 billion across six funds.
According to the Forbes report the annual return on funds managed by the Galleon group had been 21% net of fees since 1997 and last year Galleon’s flagship fund returned 30% before fees.
Raj Rajaratnam: A Man With Common Humanity
Raj Rajaratnam said: "I pledged US $ 5 million as initial donation to build houses for those affected in the North, East and South. We have already arranged with leading Sri Lankan companies – John Keels, Singer Sri Lanka and Hemas Group for the building of the houses and they are drawing the plans and would be finalized soon."
Raj Rajaratnam, the Sri Lankan born investor based in New York in the United States, is living up to the motto ‘esto perpetua’ or ‘be thou forever’ of his alma mater S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia in Sri Lanka. His inner quality of common humanity is well manifested in the open when he sees human suffering. He has shown many a time that in such situations he moves forward to alleviate the sufferings of disadvantaged and under-privileged like the Galleon, the Spanish Armada that carried the gold while navigating the rough waters three centuries ago.
He undoubtedly went through rough water, with determination, to build a very successful and leading hedge fund company called ‘Galleon Fund’, whose assets now worth over US $ 5 billion, and has shown that he could break barriers to give a helping hand to eliminate or alleviate misery.
Part of his life story has built the character of Raj Rajaratnam. A book written and published in the United States, The New Investment Superstars: 13 Great Investors and Their Strategies for Superior Returns, in one of its paragraphs describes who Raj Rajaratnam is in this manner:
“Rajaratnam, unlike most of the other superstar managers, is not U.S born. He was born in Sri Lanka and educated in England, and came to the United States to attend the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce. He came as a student and stayed. He feels his background has had an influence on him. Because he didn’t have a support system in the United States, he has never been complacent and has a strong work ethics. Nothing is taken for granted and he doesn’t think life owes him anything. Rajaratnam compares this business to getting a report card every say. ‘I am very focused and disciplined. You need toughness. You need to take it personally, yet if you take it too personally, it could wear you down. It requires a lot of stamina. You could have the right analysis but be wrong on the market.’
In the US hedge fund industry Raj is well known since he manages a US $ 5 billion plus Hedge fund called Galleon Group. The thirteen managers, including Raj Rajaratnam, featured in the book were selected on the basis of a few basic criteria. Each manages at least US $ 1 billion in assets and each has matched or outperformed the Standard and Poor for at least seven years.
When Rajaratnam was on a visit to the Kilinochchi District in northern Sri Lanka in late 2003, he witnessed the most gruesome sight of a youth who had lost both legs to a landmine, and this particular image struck him most to donate to a fund launched by the Sri Lanka Embassy in the United States to purchase six mine detecting dogs. At a Sri Lanka Embassy ceremony on January 14, 2004, the Special Representative of the President of the United States and Secretary of State for Mine Action Lincoln P. Bloomfield, along with Sri Lanka Ambassador Devinda Subasinghe, commended Rajaratnam and five others for rising to the occasion to eliminate the landmine menace in northern and eastern Sri Lanka caused by the separatist war between the Sri Lanka Government and Tiger rebels.
The benevolence of Raj Rajaratnam was again seen when he made a firm commitment of US $ 5 million (Rs. 520 million) from his personal funds to reconstruct houses in the worst affected areas in the coastal belt of Sri Lanka due to the last December 26 tsunami onslaught.
Rajaratnam and his family were vacationing in Sri Lanka when the Tsunami ravaged the island and he saw for himself the damage caused to his motherland and its people.
He told “Asian Tribune” that, “I was in Sri Lanka with my family for holidays in December and I have seen personally what had happened on 26 December. I was shocked and grieved over the calamity that shook the country.”
“I pledged US $ 5 million as initial donation to build houses for those affected in the North, East and South. We have already arranged with leading Sri Lankan companies – John Keels, Singer Sri Lanka and Hemas Group for the building of the houses and they are drawing the plans and would be finalized soon.” < br>
Such was the common humanity imbibed in his character.
Born on June 15, 1957 in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Raj Rajaratnam had his early education at S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia in Sri Lanka, and thereafter at the University of Sussex in the Britain. He initially studied engineering, and then received an MBA in Finance at Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. After a very successful academic career, he joined the American investment bank Needham & Company that specialized in emerging growth companies where he worked for more than 11 years. Rajaratnam started as an analyst of electronic stocks and rose to become managing director of investment analysis for technology, healthcare and specialty retailing. He subsequently became President of Needham in 1991.
Rajaratnam set up the Galleon Group in January 1997, after leaving Needham, and Galleon Fund currently has assets worth over US $ 5 billion.
In the past couple of years, he has been one of the heaviest investors in the Colombo Stock Exchange. Rajaratnam built up sizeable stakes in several blue chips during a vacation in Sri Lanka, and in subsequent acquisitions. Asian Tribune understands that he owns about seven percent each of the Hayleys and John Keells Holdings conglomerates and over five percent of Commercial Bank, one of the most profitable banks in Sri Lanka in addition to stakes in Colombo Dockyard and Tokyo Cement.
His father J.M. Rajaratnam (senior) was born in Alvai South, Vadamaradchy, an old boy of Hartley College, Point Pedro and the college mate of K.B.Ratnayake, an SLFP stalwart and was the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
J.M. Rajaratnam, was the chairman of Singer (Sri Lanka) in the 1970s before being promoted to head the multinational’s South East Asia operation based in Bangkok, according to S.K. Wickremasinghe, former chairman of Airlanka, the Sri Lankan airline and one-time colleague of Rajaratnam senior. He later went to New York as Vice President of Singer Exports.
Raj Rajaratnam is married, with three children, describes his hobbies as travel, world affairs and sports.
- Asian Tribune -
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