The Galleon Group was one of the largest hedge fund management firms in the world, managing over $7 billion, before closing in October 2009. The firm was the center of a 2009 insider trading scandal which subsequently led to its fall. The firm was founded by Ari Arjavalingam, Gary Rosenbach, Krishen Sud, and Raj Rajaratnam, a former equity research analyst and eventual president of Needham & Company, in 1997. The New York headquartered firm was named for the galleon, a large sailing ship used from the 16th to 18th centuries by European traders and explorers, especially from Spain.