Milken pioneered the high-yield ("junk") bond market as head of the high-yield bond department at investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert.

In 1990, he pleaded guilty to six counts of securities and tax violations; he served 22 months in prison, paid roughly $600 million in fines and settlements, and was permanently barred from the securities industry.

• He received a pardon from President Donald Trump in 2020.

• He is chairman of the Milken Institute, an economic think tank, and founded the Prostate Cancer Foundation in 1993.