The Junk Bond King Who Stole Billions From Wall Street

Added: 2026-05-24

[00:00:00]In 1989, the highest-paid man on Wall Street made $550 million a year. His name was Michael Milken, and he was running the most sophisticated financial fraud in history. From his desk at Drexel Burnham Lambert, Milken created a fake market for junk bonds. He convinced investors these worthless securities were gold mines. His method [music] was brilliant. He'd coordinate with corporate raiders like Ivan Boesky to artificially inflate bond prices through circular trading. Buy from himself, sell to himself, repeat. [music] For over a decade, this network generated billions in fake profits, but the FBI was listening. [music] Secret recordings captured Milken orchestrating trades based on insider information, planning market manipulation, defrauding pension funds and savings accounts. When Milken realized federal investigators were closing in, he tried to destroy [music] evidence and silence witnesses. Too late. His cooperation brought down dozens of associates across Wall Street.

[00:01:02]The man who once ruled finance got 10 years in prison and paid $1.1 billion in fines. One phone call ended the junk bond era forever.