The life and times of YES Bank's flamboyant and self-absorbed Rana Kapoor

The spectacular meltdown at YES Bank reveals the mental makeup of someone only too eager to walk on life's wild side

When a 32-year-old Rana Kapoor swung the United States’ consular business account in India for Bank of America (BankAm) in 1990, folks in our country’s elite foreign banking circuit sat up. The relationship had been with Citigroup for decades; its shift meant Rs 400 crore a year in float-money, substantial for a foreign bank back in the day. It also held the promise of huge spinoffs arising from the handling of increased US government business and a reset of strategic relations following the end of the Cold War. The deal saw Kapoor’s lapel being adorned with the prestigious “Eagle Pin”