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  • March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
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Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King

By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:23
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Abstract

Michael Milken, an investment banker who dominated the junk bond market in the 1980s, was sentenced to jail in 1990 after pleading guilty to a number of securities and tax-related felonies. In the preceding decade, Milken had helped usher in a new wave of leveraged buy outs (LBOs) and greatly changed the structure of corporate America. By the late 1980s, though, Milken and junk bonds became more heavily scrutinized, and Milken was eventually implicated in a number of felonious acts. Even after his admission of guilt, however, observers remained divided on what Milken's true impact had been. Was he simply a misunderstood financial innovator who democratized access to capital? Or was he driven purely by greed and by nefarious personal financial motives?

Keywords

Junk Bonds; High-yield Bonds; Financial Innovation; Shareholder Value; Bonds; Capital; Capital Structure; Cost of Capital; Crime and Corruption; Entrepreneurship; Ethics; Finance; Investment Banking; Leveraged Buyouts; Mergers and Acquisitions; Ownership; Private Equity; Restructuring; United States

Citation

Nicholas, Tom, and Matthew G. Preble. "Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King." Harvard Business School Case 816-050, March 2016. (Revised May 2021.)
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About The Author

Tom Nicholas

Entrepreneurial Management
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Related Work

    • March 2016 (Revised May 2021)
    • Faculty Research

    Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King

    By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble
Related Work
  • Michael Milken: The Junk Bond King By: Tom Nicholas and Matthew G. Preble
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