The Junk Bond Revolution: Michael Milken, Wall Street and the "Roaring Eighties"

by Fenton Bailey

This is a tale of greed, skulduggery and conspiracy in high places during the "roaring eighties", when Wall Street was shaken from top to bottom by the radical methods of Michael Milken's Junk Bond Revolution. This book argues that, although the junk bond was undoubtedly exploited by cynical and greedy operators, Milken himself was a man with a genuine vision of how the capitalist system could benefit ordinary Americans, and that he was the victim of a conspiracy engineered by corporate and financial power-brokers anxious to protect their own positions.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1991

Reviews

[Steven H · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE STORY OF MICHAEL MILKEN AND DREXEL BURNHAM

In addition to this 1991 book, Fenton Bailey is also the author of 'Fall from Grace: The Untold Story of Michael Milken.'

He states early on, "Milken was like a god. Whenever the West Coast called with something that needed doing for Michael, people went into a kind of frenzy or overdrive... all around him there was this presidential motorcade, and the buzz of drones tending a queen bee." (Pg. 3) Later, he adds, "watching Milken work was like witnessing a spaceman with ninety-five antennae coming out of his head navigating his spaceship." (Pg. 34) Milken and his division moved from Drexel's headquarters to the west coast, where "Reinforcing the image of a cult, they made outsiders of everyone who was not an insider, even within their own firm." (Pg. 67)

Unfortunately, "Milken's perception did not square with the reality of government, and, with its predominance of lawyers, its preoccupation with regulation. Ultimately, the great debate was a squabble about power." (Pg. 131) Bailey observes that "insider trading is one of the most ill-defined crimes on record. In fact it is not even on the statute books, since Congress has never passed a law specifically prohibiting it, much less defining it." (Pg. 155)

Bailey asserts that Milken's problem was that he made too much money: "The thinking is how could such a basic moral wrong be committed without illegality." (Pg. 192) Nevertheless, he admits that when Milken's salary was disclosed, "it drew shocked gasps on the trading room floor at Drexel," as well as condemnation from persons such as David Rockefeller and Donald Trump. (Pg. 203)

A "sympathetic" telling of the junk bonds story, this book is an interesting addition to other accounts such as 'Den of thieves' and 'The Predators' Ball.