April Fools

A former Drexel Burnham employee chronicles the firm's ascent, Michael Milkin's activities with the firm, and the company's eventual downfall

Stone, a former divisional vice-president at Drexel Burnham, offers an accessible and authoritative, if subjective recapitulation of the brokerage and investment company's spectacular rise in the mid-1980s--largely on the basis of Michael Milken's inventive junk bond activity. The author depicts the firm's subsequent bankruptcy and demise as a Greek tragedy; top Drexel management and 10,000 employees were dragged down by Wall Street villains Dennis Levine, Ivan Boesky, Carl Icahn and others. Milken and Drexel Burnham itself were indicted on charges of racketeering, insider trading, fraud and/or stock "parking" and manipulation. Stone describes charged staff meetings, tense NYC-West Coast conference calls moving millions of dollars from buyers to sellers, the October '87 market crash and general fear and dismay as Congress, the SEC and U.S. Attorney Rudolf Giuliani slowly closed their investigative nets. This best-yet untangling of the infamous financial imbroglio will instruct lay and informed reader alike. 50,000 first printing.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Despite Connie Bruck's The Predator's Ball: The Junk-Bond Raiders & the Man Who Staked Them (S. & S., 1988), this book is the first and only inside look at the Drexel Burnham debacle. Stone, a former vice president, brings a sober and dispassionate view to the "go-go" years of junk bonds and accumulated vast personal fortunes. He uses his personal experience to shed light not only on Michael Milken, the financial whiz, but also on the man. Never dull, this account offers anecdotes on the major Wall Street players of the 1980s: Drexel CEO Fred Joseph, wheeler-dealer Ivan Boesky, and federal prosecutor Rudolph Giuliani. Sure to be of value to business collections, this will also be a nontechnical, readable option for general readers interested in the infamous scandal.
- David M. Turkalo, Social Law Lib., Boston
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.