The Galleon Group put out an (awesome) rap about itself a few years ago but apparently its accused co-founder Raj Rajaratnam’s tastes swing a bit more country. One Greenwich neighbor (the hedge fund manager maintains residences at Sutton Place in New York and at 577 Round Hill Road in Connecticut) tells Dealbreaker that Raj spent millions to have Kenny Rogers perform at his home.
“Raj paid $4 million to have Kenny Rogers come to a birthday party at his house and sing his favorite song, ‘The Gambler,’ over and over again. Kenny refused to go on after a dozen times.”
Update: Kenny Rogers’ agent called and had this to say about Raj-Raj’s country music lovin’ party: “Kenny did play for Galleon in Greenwich during September 2007 but we don’t discuss payment for the artist.” Team Kenny won’t admit if it’s more or less than $4m but said $4 million was not the amount of the contract. He also claims Rogers didn’t do a song repeat a dozen times, but only a few.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:13AM
We sure it was Rogers and not Lewis?
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:16AM
Who are you Teri Buhl and were you the one that disposed of Greg's body?
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:18AM
Teri is Greg's mom, obviously.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:19AM
On a warm summers evenin on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin out the window at the darkness
til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:22AM
He should get arrested just for forcing his guests to listen to "The Gambler" more than 3 times.
Where the he** is 577 Round Hill? Vermont? That Round Hill Community Church is way past the Parkway and it's 395 RHR.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:23AM
Hes a disturbing looking individual thats for sure.
Colleagues finger Billionaire may not have been the best headline choice WSJ, but still funny as hell
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:25AM
He ate Sri Lanka. All of it. The doors. The windows. All of it.
Posted by Anal_yst , Oct 19, 2009 10:31AM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
thats all I got
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:34AM
Raj lives at 60 Sutton Place South. The Penthouse, naturally.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:37AM
Psych 101 - why does he like the song The Gambler so much? Probably because of the melody or something.
- Psychology Dilettante
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:40AM
Teri, this post is about 800 words less than anything you've ever written. I refuse to believe this is your work.
Posted by Joe Mac , Oct 19, 2009 10:45AM
I'm Teri Buhl, and I am CNBC!
Posted by JT , Oct 19, 2009 10:49AM
Here is a link to a photo of Raj-Raj Greenwich house where Kenny played. http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/raj-rajaratnams-house/view/?service=1
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:51AM
Gambler = favorite song = deserve to go to prison
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 10:55AM
Who knew the train bound for nowhere was actually the Stamford Local?
Posted by Anony , Oct 19, 2009 11:10AM
Sorry, I think I missed something here. Why did this guy risk prison to pay for 5 extra Kenny Rogers performances?
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 11:11AM
You gotta know when to punjab
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 11:27AM
@13: looks like they removed the livestock off the tennis court for the pic, but the BBQ pit on the left side still stands...
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 11:27AM
Thanks @13...looks like Chinch bugs around that trampoline. I'm guessing the tennis court and B-Ball hoop don't get heavy use.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 11:46AM
All the houses look the same. What kind of neighborhood is that.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 11:55AM
@20 one of the most expensive roads to live on in Greenwich
Posted by Teri , Oct 19, 2009 12:10PM
Tweet: From star trader and former 1440 Wall street blogger Stock Jockey
@tbuhl Raj threw holiday parties for Sellsiders late 90s, genius move bought lots of love. Stevie[he means SAC Cap] had more commish, still got first call
Posted by Jon , Oct 19, 2009 5:21PM
http://blog.greenwichtime.com/realtime/2009/10/19/know-when-to-hold-em-know-when-to-fold-em/
The Greenwich Time newspaper had to count on Dealbreaker to report some local color on one of its mansion owning hedgies. At least they credited DB for the scoop. Great job Bess and team.
Posted by guest , Oct 19, 2009 9:58PM
if there is one thing Raj had over and over - it's Kenny Rogers' Roasters...
Posted by trader Jon , Oct 20, 2009 1:12PM
The Huffington Post thinks Dealbreaker's 'Raj loves Kenny Rogers' is one of the most colorful anecdotes reported in the Galleon Insider Trading story. It's nice to see the HP finally gets a story right.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/19/galleon-hedge-fund-scanda_n_326282.html
Posted by Danny , Oct 31, 2009 3:10PM
Hey Dealbreaker I heard NPR talk about this story you broke on their 'Wait Wait' quiz show. Way to go. The news even stumped the listener.