Satyam Computers until last week was one of the titans of the Indian IT and Outsourcing industry. Founded in 1987 by founder and CEO, Ramalinga Raju, Satyam rose to global prominence with the outsourcing boom, claiming 140 of the Fortune 500 companies as its clients and accounting for $1 billion in yearly revenue.
As it turns out, most of the $1 billion in revenue was non existent and Satyam was infact the biggest corporate fraud in Indian history. This begs the question, why some of the smartest people in the world, who have worked so hard their entire life to be at the top of their careers, just throw it all away in one false swoop? What is it that makes them play with the lives of several thousand employees, as well as billions of dollars of investors money? And Ramalinga Raju is a recent addition to the long list or people which includes Bernard Madoff, Jeffery Skilling, Ken Lay, Bernie Ebbers, Wall street, Investment banking and Mortgage company CEO's for their role in the sub prime mortgage crisis etc..
All of us would admit that these people were some of the smartest people in the room until things unraveled around them. So what is it that leads these smart people to make some of the dumbest decisions in hindsight which ultimately led to their downfall. Is it just plain old greed? Or is it the feeling that I am the smartest person in the room, having achieved so much, whatever decision I make will be the right one's. Or is it pressure from investors and shareholders demanding continued growth, higher value and greater returns.
The answers may not be one of the other, but a combination of all a number of factors. What do you think? Please chime in with your thoughts.
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