Milken, Michael Robert, 1946-, American financial executive, b. Van Nuys, Calif. Nicknamed the "junk bond king," he was an executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Inc., where he transformed corporate takeovers and financing by the use of high-yield junk bonds. At the height of his success in the 1980s, Milken's personal wealth was legend; according to the government, Drexel paid Milken $296 million in 1986 and $550 million in 1987. In 1989 a federal grand jury indicted Milken for violations of federal securities and racketeering laws. He pled guilty to securities fraud and related charges in 1990, and the government dropped the more serious charges of insider trading and racketeering. Milken was fined and sentenced to prison for ten years; in 1991 his sentence was reduced to two years plus three years probation. Barred from the securities business for life, Milken worked as a strategic business consultant after his release from prison. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged that this work was a violation of his probation, and in 1998 Milken settled with the SEC and paid the government $42 million in fees that he had earned plus interest. Milken, who had prostate cancer, established (1993) a foundation to underwrite a search for its cure; he is also a founder (1996) of Knowledge Universe, an educational services company.

(born July 4, 1946, Encino, Calif., U.S.) U.S. financier and entrepreneur. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and went to work in 1969 for what was to become Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., an investment-banking company. In 1971 he became head of its bond-trading department. He persuaded many of his clients to invest in junk bonds issued by new or financially troubled companies; the capital he raised financed a new class of “corporate raiders” who carried out numerous mergers, acquisitions, hostile takeovers, and leveraged buyouts in the 1980s. By the end of the decade, the junk-bond market was worth $150 billion, and Drexel was a leading financial firm. In 1986 its client Ivan Boesky, convicted of insider trading, implicated Milken and the firm in his dealings. Charged with securities fraud and heavily fined, Drexel declared bankruptcy in 1990 when the junk-bond market collapsed. Milken pled guilty to securities fraud the same year and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $600-million fine; released after 22 months, he since made a second fortune.

Learn more about Milken, Michael R. with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born July 4, 1946, Encino, Calif., U.S.) U.S. financier and entrepreneur. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and went to work in 1969 for what was to become Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc., an investment-banking company. In 1971 he became head of its bond-trading department. He persuaded many of his clients to invest in junk bonds issued by new or financially troubled companies; the capital he raised financed a new class of “corporate raiders” who carried out numerous mergers, acquisitions, hostile takeovers, and leveraged buyouts in the 1980s. By the end of the decade, the junk-bond market was worth $150 billion, and Drexel was a leading financial firm. In 1986 its client Ivan Boesky, convicted of insider trading, implicated Milken and the firm in his dealings. Charged with securities fraud and heavily fined, Drexel declared bankruptcy in 1990 when the junk-bond market collapsed. Milken pled guilty to securities fraud the same year and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and a $600-million fine; released after 22 months, he since made a second fortune.

Learn more about Milken, Michael R. with a free trial on Britannica.com.

See Michael Milken