Michael Milken
A financial revolutionary who democratized corporate capital with junk bonds, then became the symbol of 1980s Wall Street excess and crime.
Born 1946 (age 80)·American financier, racketeer and securities fraudster·Birthday: July 4·Baby Boomers
Biography
Michael Milken stands as one of the most transformative and notorious figures in modern finance. In the 1970s and 80s, operating from a modest desk in Beverly Hills, he championed high-yield 'junk' bonds—debt issued by risky, non-investment-grade companies. He argued, correctly, that their higher default risk was statistically overstated, and in doing so, he unlocked billions in capital for upstart firms, challengers to corporate giants, and innovators like MCI and Ted Turner's CNN. He made Drexel Burnham Lambert a powerhouse and himself a billionaire. But his methods drew intense scrutiny. In 1990, he pleaded guilty to securities and reporting violations, serving 22 months in prison. His legacy is a stark duality: the architect of a financial tool that fueled economic growth and corporate raids alike, and a convicted felon whose downfall came to define an era of greed.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Michael was born in 1946, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Michael Was Born
The biggest hits of 1946
#1 Movie
The Best Years of Our Lives
Best Picture
The Best Years of Our Lives
Michael's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1946Born
United Nations holds its first General Assembly
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $5,150Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Prisoner of Love" — Perry ComoBest Picture: The Best Years of Our Lives
1951Started school
First color TV broadcast in the US
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,925Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Too Young" — Nat King ColeBest Picture: An American in Paris
1959Became a teenager
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1962Could drive
Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $12,800Min wage: $1.15/hrPresident: John F. Kennedy"Stranger on the Shore" — Acker BilkBest Picture: Lawrence of Arabia
1964Could vote
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1967Turned 21
Summer of Love in San Francisco; first Super Bowl
Gas: $0.33/galHome: $14,250Min wage: $1.40/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"To Sir, with Love" — LuluBest Picture: In the Heat of the Night
1976Turned 30
Apple Computer founded; US bicentennial
Gas: $0.59/galHome: $29,300Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Silly Love Songs" — WingsBest Picture: Rocky
1986Turned 40
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1996Turned 50
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 60
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 70
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 80
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Pioneered the widespread use and market for high-yield "junk" bonds, fundamentally changing corporate finance.
- Built the high-yield bond department at Drexel Burnham Lambert into a profit center that dominated 1980s Wall Street.
- His financial innovations provided capital for emerging companies and fueled a wave of mergers and acquisitions.
- Following his conviction, he became a major philanthropist, particularly in medical research, through the Milken Institute.
Did You Know?
He reportedly worked from 4:30 a.m. and famously held an annual "Predators' Ball" for clients and financiers.
He was treated for prostate cancer in 1993 and has since donated hundreds of millions to medical research.
His lifetime ban from the securities industry was lifted in 2020 by the Trump administration.
He is a trained economist with a degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
“The best way to get rich is to create wealth, and the best way to create wealth is to own a piece of a business.”
