of the investment banking firm of drexel burnham lambert, inc., 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 t. boone pickens couldn't have raided gulf, unocal, and phillips petroleum. pickens: the gulf deal was the first time i saw milken. he said, "if you really want to take over gulf, it's gonna cost you $13 billion." [ laughing ] and i said, "yeah, i get it." and he said, "i can get the $13 billion." palmer: he's the guy that t. boone pickens goes to, and most people haven't heard of him. well, that's just the way he likes it. he doesn't care about publicity. he doesn't care about pride. all he cares about is making money, doing deals, and having power. burrough: he was this shadowy howard hughes-like figure that those of us even in the press never saw, you just heard [whispering] "it's milken." but, you know, it was milken's genius -- and i think that is the correct word -- that created an entire market