In perhaps his first public address since he was convicted of insider trading, Rajat Gupta, an IIT Delhi alumnus and former managing director of McKinsey, apologized for his “errors and misjudgments.”
“I genuinely ask for your forgiveness and understanding,” Gupta told the audience, adding, “I have regrets that five years of my life was taken away from me where I could have made, hopefully, many more contributions to philanthropic causes.”
Gupta was addressing the the Santa Clara Convention Center on June 17 on the future of artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, clean energy and other hi-tech topics as Indian Institute of Technology alumni from across the Bay Area — mostly Indian American entrepreneurs and IT professionals — came together for the second annual IIT Bay Area Leadership Conference.
About 800 of the Bay Area’s roughly 12,000 IITians attended the event, which is organized annually by the IIT Bay Area Alumni Association, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote collaboration within the IIT community and create a platform for venture capitalists, job seekers and business persons to interact with each other.
Addressing his fellow IITians, he said he was determined to emerge physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually stronger, and expressed his gratitude to his friend, Dr. Deepak Chopra, for standing by him through these tough times. Gupta said Chopra had helped him deal with this catastrophe with dignity, grace and humility.