Drexel Burnham Lambert, a brokerage house, agreed on 21 December to plead guilty to 6 violations of federal law, including insider trading, and pay penalties of $650 million, the largest such settlement ever. During the heady 1980s, Drexel Burnham Lambert (under the leadership of ‘junk bond’ guru Michael Milken) established itself as one of Wall Street’s key players. Amid this climate, Milken was able to raise large sums of capital by floating junk bonds that enabled ‘corporate raiders’ to engage in corporate mergers, hostile takeovers, acquisitions, and leverage buy-outs. This period on Wall Street was called ‘merger mania’. Drexel Burnham capitalized on and contributed to this climate. In 1986, however, Ivan Boesky (a Drexel client and leading corporate raider) was…
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Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Drexel Burnham Lambert pay record fine". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5731, accessed 26 November 2024.]