Raj Rajaratnam Became Billionaire Demanding Edge
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Every weekday at 8:35 a.m., Galleon Group’s 70 analysts, portfolio managers and traders pack into a conference room on the 34th floor of the IBM Building, a gray-green polished granite skyscraper on New York’s Madison Avenue. Tardy arrivals are fined $25.
At the head of the table, Chief Executive Officer Raj Rajaratnam fires off questions to the staff of his $3.7 billion hedge-fund firm: Which companies’ margins are peaking? What would change your mind about this stock? What’s the risk of that company failing to win an expected contract? The 52-year-old billionaire expects his analysts to have an edge: better information than anyone else, say people who have attended the meetings.