that s the latest estimate of what the failure of hundreds of federally insured savings and loans will eventually cost american taxpayers. mr. keating, did you make bail? no questions. the once rapid growth of keating s failed lincoln savings and loan in california, the majority of bonds bought by seniors, many losing their life savings. charles keating was convicted in two trials, but both of those verdicts were overturned, and then he pled guilty to avoid a retrial and was allowed out for time served. the climate had gone from celebrating the excesses of wall street to condemning them pretty quickly. tonight s headline, milken pleads guilty in what may be the largest individual case of fraud ever to rock wall street. the case which ended in a plea
that s the latest estimate of what the failure of hundreds of federally insured savings and loans will eventually cost american taxpayers. mr. keating, did you make bail? no questions. the once rapid growth of keating s failed lincoln savings and loan in california, the majority of bonds bought by seniors, many losing their life savings. charles keating was convicted in two trials, but both of those verdicts were overturned, and then he pled guilty to avoid a retrial and was allowed out for time served. the climate had gone from celebrating the excesses of wall street to condemning them pretty quickly. tonight s headline, milken pleads guilty in what may be the largest individual case of fraud ever to rock wall street. the case which ended in a plea
because it s so risky, those ious carry high interest rates, and they re called junk bonds. you may not have heard of michael milken, but this 40-year-old wall street whiz is said to be the most powerful financier in america. he brought respectability to low rated junk bonds and then used the money to finance corporate raids and takeovers. without mike milken, pickens couldn t have raided several companies. he said if you really want to take over gulf, it s going to cost you $13 billion. i said, yeah, i get it. and he said, i can get the $13 billion. he s the guy that t. boone pickens goes to and most people haven t heard of him. that s the way he likes it. he doesn t care about publicity and pride. he just cares about doing deals and having power. he was this shadowy howard hughes-like figure that you
never saw, you just heard. it was milken s genius that created an entire market and fueled this takeover phenomena. we romanticize these characters. the fact of the matter, these are fat cats, first cousins to the financial manipulators, the robber barons of the late 19th century. they re trying to make a buck by doing nothing and putting people out of work. economists agree that some unemployment, some hardship is unavoidable in making the united states lean and mean again. but the takeover specialists call it corporate restructuring. corporate america needs some kick now and then to become a little more efficient and less entrenched. and that will probably do our economy a lot of good. thursday, goodyear fended off a hostile takeover bid but victory didn t come cheap. goodyear won by buying back
you may not have heard of michael milken, but this 40-year-old wall street whiz is said to be the most powerful financier in america. he brought respectability to low rated junk bonds and then used the money to finance corporate raids and takeovers. without mike milken, pickens couldn t have raided several companies. he said if you really want to take over gulf, it s going to cost you $13 billion. i said, yeah, i get it. and he said, i can get the $13 billion. he s the guy that t. boone pickens goes to and most people haven t heard of him. that s the way he likes it. he doesn t care about publicity and pride. he just cares about doing deals and having power. he was this shadowy howard hughes-like figure that you never saw, you just heard. it was milken s genius that