Who is Rishi Shah, Indian-American arrested for Rs 8,300 crore fraud in US

Rishi Shah, co-founder of Outcome Health, has been indicted on more than 12 counts of fraud.

New Delhi:

Rishi Shah, an Indian-American businessman, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for a Rs 8,300 crore ($1 billion) fraud involving his advertising startup. The fraud scheme duped high-profile investors including Goldman Sachs Group Inc, Google parent Alphabet Inc and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s venture capital firm.

Shah, co-founder of Outcome Health, was indicted on more than 12 counts of fraud and money laundering. He was convicted in April 2023, along with his company’s co-founders, Shradha Agarwal and Brad Purdy. The judge sentenced Agarwal to three years in prison and Purdy to two years and three months in prison.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil case against Shah, Agarwal, Purdy and former chief growth officer Ashik Desai, who pleaded guilty before trial.

Who is Rishi Shah?

1. Rishi Shah is a technology investor and entrepreneur who co-founded JumpStart Ventures in 2011. As the company’s president and managing director, he has made more than 60 direct investments in healthcare technology, education technology and media.

2. Rishi Shah, son of a doctor, attended Harvard’s economics summer program in 2005. He then studied at Northwestern University for a year before dropping out to start his own business.

3. In 2006, Shah founded Outcome Health, formerly known as Context Media Health. The company installed TVs in doctors’ offices to broadcast health advertisements targeted to patients. Under his leadership, Outcome Health grew significantly in valuation and became a crucial player in the healthcare and technology investment communities in the mid-2010s.

4. The 38-year-old serves on the Board of Directors of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), 1871 and MATTER, a community of healthcare innovators and ideas incubator. He also advises technology startup accelerator/incubator programs, non-profit organizations and universities.

5. Rishi Shah’s net worth was falsely inflated to over $4 billion in 2016. The truth emerged in 2017 when the Wall Street Journal exposed fraudulent activities at Outcome Health. Investors including Goldman Sachs and Alphabet sued the company for fraud, revealing that Shah and his co-founder profited while investors were left with worthless stakes.