Revealing the Truth About the Prosecution of Michael Milken

Based on the true story of Michael Milken, Witness to a Prosecution is Richard Sandler’s firsthand account of one of the most high-profile financial crime cases of the 1980s. In 1986, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York began an investigation of Milken, his firm Drexel Burnham Lambert, and its High Yield and Convertible Bond Department, a department Milken created and ran.

After observing too much disingenuous reporting and media-circulated half-truths about Michael Milken in the years since his trial, Richard Sandler is finally setting the record straight, more than three decades later.

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QUOTES FROM THE BOOK

Michael Milken and this prosecution have been described in books and articles by others who had no firsthand knowledge of the events and were motivated to describe what happened in a certain way. I, too, am motivated to describe what happened, but I am motivated because I want the true story told, and I do have firsthand knowledge. I lived this matter day in and day out for over ten years. Michael was a public figure then and is still a public figure in financial and philanthropic circles. It is important for history to reflect what happened and how it happened.

Michael Milken and Drexel democratized access to capital for the 99 percent of companies previously unable to access the public market. They started a financial revolution and fueled unprecedented economic growth from the late 1970s that continues to this day.

Michael Milken was a disruptor. Like many innovators and disruptors throughout history, he was bound to come under criticism at the time. Galileo was jailed for coming up with new scientific theories. John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and Cornelius Vanderbilt are often referred to as “robber barons” though they revolutionized their industries and created valuable businesses and philanthropic institutions that exist to this day. Innovators of today such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Jack Dorsey, and Elon Musk are under constant scrutiny by the government and the media.

Michael Milken was being depicted in the media as a criminal—and as a caricature of a person. But, Michael tried to avoid the media and did not cooperate with the media; he may have been well known throughout the financial and business communities, but the picture of who he really was was a blank canvas, and others who did not know him began to paint his portrait the way they wanted it to look.

By this time I understood the power of the government and how the system could be made to work. And now the words Aubrey Harwell, the lawyer who used to work in the Justice Department and now represented a Drexel employee, had new meaning: ‘If the government really wants to get you, it will get you.

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MILKEN FAMILY FOUNDATION

The Milken Family Foundation strives to discover and advance inventive, effective ways of helping people help themselves and those around them lead productive and satisfying lives. The means most conducive to achieving these goals is through education. That’s why MFF continues to champion strategies that elevate education in America and around the world.

Milken Family Foundation initiatives:

  • Strengthen the profession by recognizing and rewarding outstanding educators, and by expanding their professional leadership and policy influence.
  • Attract, develop, motivate and retain the best talent for the teaching profession.
  • Stimulate creativity and productivity among people of all ages through programs that encourage learning as a lifelong process.
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RICHARD SANDLER & MICHAEL MILKEN THROUGHOUT THE YEARS

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ABOUT RICHARD SANDLER

Richard Sandler is executive vice president, secretary, and a trustee of the Milken Family Foundation. He has been involved with the Foundation since its formation in 1982 and has contributed to its initiatives in education and medical research.

Richard chairs the board of trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America and is the former chair of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles.

Richard is a partner in the law firm of Maron & Sandler. He has been an investor for over twenty-five years, including acting as the managing partner of various partnerships. He serves on the boards of directors for several companies including KU Education, Inc., Knowledge Schools, Inc., and Heron International Limited. Richard is a member of the State Bar of California and the American Bar Association. He received his law degree from UCLA Law School.

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