Milken Resigns Drexel Post, Will Open Southland Consulting Firm
“Junk bond” wizard Michael Milken officially ended his 20-year career at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. on Thursday and said he will launch his own financial consulting firm while he awaits trial on racketeering and securities fraud charges.
Milken, 42, who has been on a leave of absence from Drexel since March 29, on Thursday submitted his resignation. In a telephone interview, he said his new firm, International Capital Access Group, would offer a wide range of consulting services consistent with his personal interests and his previous work at Drexel. He claimed that one purpose of the firm will be to “address the major issues in society.”
He said he would offer advice on subjects as diverse as the Third World debt crisis, helping unions, employees and minorities obtain ownership stakes in companies and advising financially troubled companies on how to raise new capital.
‘Very Emotional Experience’
The timing of Milken’s resignation appears to have been influenced by a Supreme Court decision last week that cleared the way for Drexel to complete its announced plan to settle civil insider-trading and securities fraud charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The settlement now is expected to go into effect within the next few weeks. It requires Drexel to terminate Milken’s employment and also avoid any direct or indirect business dealings with him.
Milken’s brother, Lowell Milken, 39, also resigned Thursday from Drexel. He said through his attorney that he plans to resume practicing law. Lowell Milken had been a lawyer with the Los Angeles firm of Irell & Manella before he left in 1978 to help his brother run Drexel’s junk bond department. Michael Armstrong, Lowell Milken’s lawyer, said his client hasn’t decided yet where he will practice. Lowell Milken was also indicted in March on racketeering charges.
During the rare, on-the-record interview, Michael Milken said of the resignation: “After spending your whole life working for one company, it’s a very emotional experience.” But in a reference to the investigation and legal problems that have beset him, he added, “the last few years have been an emotional experience.”
Milken said he decided to set up his own firm now because “to continue to help (people he has done business with or offered advice to), I need some vehicle to be able to help.”
‘Naturally Disappointed’
Milken started out in 1969 as a part-time employee at Drexel Harriman, a Philadelphia investment firm that was a precursor to Drexel Burnham Lambert, while attending the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Within a decade, his pioneering use of high-yield, high-risk junk bonds had transformed Drexel from a second-tier brokerage firm into one of Wall Street’s most powerful investment banking houses.
In a written statement issued Thursday, Milken said:
“Drexel is the only company I’ve worked for since graduating from college. And it’s the only one I ever expected to work for. I am naturally disappointed to be forced to leave Drexel as part of the firm’s settlement with the government, but I look forward to the opportunity of helping people build companies.”
Milken currently faces a 98-count federal criminal indictment. The government is also demanding that he forfeit $1.85 billion under the racketeering charges.
Steven Anreder, Drexel’s spokesman, said: “Michael Milken made many important contributions to Drexel Burnham, and his resignation, although not unexpected, is a sad event.” He added: “We wish him well in his new endeavor.”
Milken was somewhat vague about exactly what the new firm will do or how many people it will employ. His personal spokesman, Ken Lerer, said it would start out with fewer than 10 employees. Tentative plans call for it to be based in West Los Angeles, and Lerer said it definitely won’t be in the Beverly Hills building that houses Drexel’s junk bond department. Milken, his brother and several other partners own that building.
Declined to Speculate
Milken said he isn’t currently talking with any of his former colleagues at Drexel about coming to work for his new firm, but he didn’t rule out that possibility. “I just can’t tell you at this time,” he said.
He also declined to speculate on whether he might try to expand the firm to offer full-scale investment banking services if he should succeed in overcoming the criminal and civil charges facing him. “The financial world changes all the time,” he said. “Exactly what one would be interested in doing in the future I don’t know.”
For the time being, Milken’s legal problems probably will prevent him from competing directly with Drexel, individuals involved in the legal cases said. Were he to branch out beyond consulting to underwriting or trading securities, he might run afoul of federal and state regulators who supervise the registration of securities broker-dealers. But sources said the potential exists nevertheless for conflicts with Drexel.
The SEC settlement’s ban on Drexel doing business either directly or indirectly with Milken could be interpreted to mean that Drexel can’t do business with clients advised by Milken. Milken’s lawyers haven’t said yet whether they will challenge that provision of the settlement in court. If it goes into effect, however, it conceivably could force clients to choose between dealing with Milken or Drexel. A source close to Milken said: “I think you’d have to take it on a case-by-case basis.”
Anreder said: “We don’t anticipate any conflicts.”
Milken also declined to say if he might refer clients to firms other than Drexel for investment banking services. “I can’t predict what’s going to happen in the future,” he said. “We’ll see what happens and it will depend on each individual situation.”
Milken, who earned amounts ranging up to $550 million per year at Drexel, over the last year has attempted to help arrange financing for unions and workers seeking to take over troubled companies. He also has proposed innovative solutions to the Latin American debt problem. Some observers have viewed this as part of an overall public relations campaign at a time when he is in trouble. But Lerer insists that these are all genuine interests of Milken’s and that he has been involved in these activities for years.
‘More Demands Than Ever’
Friends of Milken’s have speculated that one reason he decided to start a new firm now is that, since taking a leave of absence from Drexel, he has had an unaccustomed amount of time on his hands. They note that Milken typically would work from 4:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m. He was used to orchestrating a multitude of deals at once. In recent weeks, Milken has given speeches to a variety of organizations and worked on his legal defense.
“I think Michael is desperate to find something to do,” a former Drexel colleague said.
Milken himself, however, strongly denied that he has time on his hands. “I have more demands on my time than ever before,” he said, although he added, referring to the legal cases: “Sometimes they’re things you’d rather not have to spend time on.”
Gary Lynch, the SEC’s director of enforcement, declined to comment Thursday on Milken’s decision to open a new business. The Milken brothers still face SEC civil charges as well as the separate criminal charges.
Milken, his brother and former Drexel trader Bruce L. Newberg are likely to go to trial on the pending criminal charges sometime early next year. Federal prosecutors are expected to bring a new indictment within the next several months containing additional charges.
A number of Milken’s former colleagues at Drexel already have been granted immunity from prosecution and are cooperating with the government investigation. Sources confirmed Thursday that another former Drexel employee, Reed Harmon, who had worked closely with Milken, was recently granted immunity in exchange for testimony before a grand jury.
Charges Denied
Harmon is said to have detailed knowledge of some of Milken’s business dealings with former stock speculator Ivan F. Boesky. Boesky, suspected of widespread insider trading, pleaded guilty to one criminal count and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Much of the government’s case against Milken involves his alleged dealings with Boesky.
Milken, Lowell Milken and Newberg all vigorously deny the charges against them.
Drexel has agreed to plead guilty to six criminal charges and pay $650 million in penalties under an agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan. The guilty plea would be made after the firm’s separate settlement with the SEC goes into effect. Lawyers for Michael and Lowell Milken are challenging provisions of the settlement agreement, including a requirement that Drexel withhold much of the brothers’ compensation owed them for 1988. Michael Milken is said to be owed at least $200 million.
