He was sentenced in 1990 to 10 years in prison. His name was Michael Milken, and was known as the "...what...King"?

The financier Michael Milken earned his famous nickname for his revolutionary and dominant role in the market for high-yield securities, better known as "junk bonds". These are bonds issued by companies that have a lower credit rating, making them riskier investments than traditional corporate bonds. Before Milken's influence in the 1970s and 1980s, this market was largely overlooked by Wall Street. He saw an opportunity, recognizing that a diversified portfolio of these high-risk, high-yield bonds could generate significant returns that would more than offset any losses from defaults.

Working from the investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert, Milken almost single-handedly created a booming market for these securities. This new source of capital fundamentally changed corporate finance, fueling the wave of leveraged buyouts and hostile takeovers that defined the 1980s. His work provided financing for new ventures and entire industries, like cable television, that previously had limited access to funding. At the peak of his power, Milken was one of the most influential figures in the financial world, earning a record-breaking income that exceeded a billion dollars over a four-year period.

Milken's career came to a dramatic halt when he was indicted for racketeering and securities fraud. In 1990, he pleaded guilty to several felony charges, including securities and tax violations. He was sentenced to ten years in prison, fined hundreds of millions of dollars, and permanently barred from the securities industry. His sentence was later reduced, and he was eventually pardoned in 2020, but his legacy as the "Junk Bond King" remains a defining chapter of 1980s financial excess.