[2][3] 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.

[4][5] 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.

The rise and fall of Galleon has been the subject of a number of books including The Billionaire's Apprentice (by Anita Raghavan, a journalist with The Wall Street Journal).

The fund primarily invested in technology and healthcare companies and quickly increased in value, eventually peaking at $7 billion in 2008.

[12] Zvi Goffer, a former Galleon trader, was found guilty of all 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud against him and sentenced by Judge Sullivan "to 10 years in prison for his role in a scheme to trade on inside information provided by lawyers".

Leon Shaulov, a Senior Portfolio Manager who was left out of one particular insider trading scheme, was livid when he found out – not because the company was breaking the law, but rather because he had been, sending internal emails complaining: "Thx for the heads up"; "Not one word from anyone.