Fallen business titan Rajat Gupta was sentenced to 2 years in prison and ordered to pay a $5 million fine for leaking tips to convicted hedge-fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam.
Gupta, a former Goldman Sachs director who once ran top consulting firm McKinsey & Co., was convicted in June of three counts of securities fraud and one count of conspiracy, including tipping Rajaratnam to Warren Buffett’s $5 billion investment in Goldman at the height of the financial crisis.
He will surrender to authorities Dec. 11 to begin serving his sentence.
The sentence fell short of the maximum recommended by prosecutors, who argued he deserved up to 10 years in part because he “abused his position of trust.”
Gupta, 63, who also sat on the board of Procter & Gamble, rubbed elbows with numerous business big shots before he was ensnared in the government’s massive crackdown on insider trading.
“With today’s sentence, Rajat Gupta now must face the grave consequences of his crime – a term of imprisonment,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “His conduct has forever tarnished a once-sterling reputation that took years to cultivate.
“We hope that others who might consider breaking the securities laws will take heed from this sad occasion and choose not to follow in Mr. Gupta’s footsteps.”
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan were among those who wrote letters to the Manhattan federal judge Jed Rakoff pleading for leniency.
Gupta’s defense team had argued for probation, saying he would do more to help the world by remaining free. Gupta’s lawyer, Gary Naftalis, even suggested that he be allowed to serve his sentence in rural villages in Rwanda where he can help the sick and needy.
A majority of Post readers polled by the paper said he should be sentenced to more than six years in prison. Some 19 percent said he should get off with probation, while 11 percent said he should get two to four years in jail.
Rajaratnam, the founder of Galleon Group, is serving an 11-year prison term in Massachusetts.
kwhitehouse@nypost.com