By Ken Tarbous
March 19, 2010
Gopal Garuda isn't the type of person who waits for things to happen.
In his first two months at Citadel Securities, he completed Advanced Micro Devices' $500 million high-yield bond offering and $1 billion tender offer for outstanding 5.75% convertible notes. The offerings were part of Citadel's first underwriting transaction as an investment bank.
During his studies at Harvard University, Garuda heard about the legend of Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel Investment Group, who traded convertibles out of his dorm room during his freshman year at the school.
Garuda, 33, has known many successes as well. At Harvard, he earned two degrees — a bachelor's in economics and a master's in statistics — and wrote a widely cited Harvard International Review article on the International Monetary Fund.
He grew up in the affluent Cleveland suburbs where he watched his father run an independent financial planning practice advising high-net-worth individuals. Garuda started his Wall Street career in 1998 as an equity derivatives trader at Merrill Lynch, but in 2000 he decided to go to Silicon Valley to become a technology banker.
He quickly acclimated to the change in lifestyle and temperature (not to mention the more laid-back atmosphere) in California, where he has taken up long-distance running.
He spent 10 years at Merrill and B of A Merrill, but it didn't take any arm-twisting to get Garuda to join Citadel in September. "It was an easy decision to join Citadel Securities. I have tremendous respect and admiration for the organization. It attracts people who are smart and innovative and who know how to find opportunity in a dislocated market. We have assembled a great team from many of the most respected investment banks on Wall Street."
Title: managing director and co-head of technology investment banking
Company: Citadel Securities
Age: 33
Time with Company: 7 months
