Rajat Gupta's Journey Into Prison: Insider Trading

Rajat Gupta's journey into prison for insider trading marks an end to an astonishing success story and punctuates his quick fall from grace. The retired head of Mckinsey and a former Goldman Sachs board member was judged guilty of conspiracy and securities fraud for leaking secrets of the boardroom to billionaire hedge fund manager Raj. After almost a month long trial in Manhattan Fed Court, the jury took only 2 days to reach at a verdict. They found Gupta guilty of leaking confidential information about Goldman Sachs on 3 different occasions in 2008.They also convicted him on a conspiracy charge.
Rajat Gupta was a native of Kolkata and moved to New Delhi. His father was a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and was jailed in the fight for independence and was later a journalist. Both his parents died when he was in his teens but he still thrived as an anchor

But, in the 80’s, things changed and banks began selling newer products like junk bonds and in a few years bankers were pulling in millions. Gupta personified the generation of Indians who were called the “twice blessed” — those who profited from India’s independence in 1947 and overturning of a United States law in 1965 that had restricted Indian immigration to around 100 people each year.
Under his service, McKinsey became a global powerhouse opening close to 20 offices and doubling their consultants.
But the question in everyone’s mind is, why had someone as hard-working and successful as Rajat Gupta risked — and now completely lost — everything in order to participate in an illegal task in which he saw no material benefit?
What were the factors that were under his control and which were not?
Some people who are used to taking decisions quickly at times do not reflect whether the information they are receiving is taking them close to the line between permissible trade and security