About S. Gurumurthy

 

Swaminathan Gurumurthy is a well-known Chartered Accountant and a leading corporate advisor in India. He became the friend, guide and philosopher of the redoutable Ramnath Goenka and the Indian Express when he was 27 and the client, Goenka 72! Gurumurthy was undoubtedly 'a brilliant chartered accountant and exceedingly astute amateur lawyer' who 'became the close and trusted counsellor of Ramnath Goenka on all matters' as BG Verghese, a highly regarded editor, described Gurumurthy in his biography on Goenka.

 

Gurumurthy's association with the Indian Express and the newspaper's campaign against corporate misdeeds and corruption at high places in mid and late 1980s brought out the investigative journalist hidden in him. The exposed and embarrassed government arrested Gurumurthy, on the basis of a forged document, in a bid to silence him. The entire media stood by Gurumurthy. Soon it became known that the real reason for the arrest of Gurumurthy was that he had advised the then President of India to write a letter to the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for exposing the latter's violation of constitutional proprieties. That led to a tempestuous political issue. Gurumurthy's arrest led to an all out war between the Government and the Indian Express. The 'India Today' magazine described the Goenka-Gurumurthy-Arun Shourie combination as 'the most lethal' against the government. It is this war that eventually led to the stunning defeat of Rajiv Gandhi in the 1989 elections. Hamish McDonald, a well known Australian journalist, says in is book “The Polyester Baron” Gurumurthy's investigative writing 'must rank among the most powerful examples of investigative journalism anywhere in the world'.

 

Gurumurthy’s unconventional economic thinking, his influence over the corporate India, and his association with the RSS added more power to his already powerful personality. He has mediated and solved many corporate family issues and also the brought about amicable solution to one of the biggest corporate issues, namely between Grasim and L&T. He was repeatedly rated among 50 most powerful persons in India in 1990 [Gentleman magazine]; as the 8th most powerful [Business Baron magazine 2004]; as the 17th most powerful [India Today magazine in 2005]. But Gurumurthy never derived his power from any formal position he occupied in the government or in any organisation. His influence rested on the status he enjoyed as a person and as a writer of integrity and courage. Hamish McDonald also says in his book that Gurumurthy had 'a strong sense of probity'.

 

Along with his team of professionals and academics Gurumurthy has studied over 25 community-driven industrial clusters in different parts of the country. He regularly contributes columns in leading newspapers like the Hindu Business Line, the New Indian Express and others on issues of critical importance to the society and the country.