All language subtitles for Titans.The.Rise.of.Wall.Street.S01E08.GREED.IS.GOOD.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-TEPES

- Ladies and gentlemen
of the Class of '96,

I come here today with
an important message.

Greed is healthy.

It's the truth.

The fact is, I wouldn't
be standing here today

if I wasn't greedy.

Every day, putting
my money on the line.

My livelihood hanging
in the balance.

Greed is what keeps me hungry.

It's what gets me
to the office first,

and keeps me there long
after everyone's gone home.

Because, if you
don't want it more,

if you don't want it the most,

I guarantee you
there's some other

greedy bastard out
there that will.

'Cause greed is just business.

So do me a favor,

go out, kick some ass,

make millions, and feel good
about it in the morning.

You've got to want it more.

You've got to be greedy.

- Ivan Boesky
is on top of the world.

But what he doesn't
know, is that his greed

could soon bring him down.

- Ivan
Boesky has it all.

No longer an
up-and-coming banker,

he's come into his own.

And now his infamous
commencement address

is making headlines.

- It was unusual
before someone like Ivan Boesky

to be giving a speech at
one of our business schools.

But people still remember

his famous "Greed is
Good" speech at Berkeley.

It was in the
movie "Wall Street"

when the actor Michael
Douglas basically mimicked it,

and made the same thing
that everybody said,

"Wow, Ivan said that."

That's a real moment of the 80s.

- Now, a celebrity.

- To make sure I know
more than the next guy.

And the guy next to him.

- Boesky's
speaking at seminars,

colleges, and universities.

- To be more prepared.

More informed.

To be greedier.

- It was all so new.

Wall Street had been
asleep for 20 or 30 years.

And now it was suddenly awake

with these fascinating
characters, larger than life,

walking the land.

- But the
only thing that matters

to those on Wall Street,

is his partnership
with Michael Milken.

- I'm listening.

- Boesky was a big man on
the Wall Street campus.

But Milken was a giant.

Because he had so much
investment power behind him.

And he could make
takeover, after takeover.

- The two men
dominated the financial markets.

And are making more
money than ever before.

And Wall Street has
followed their lead.

- I think in the
80s, the culture changed.

It became blatant.

More greedy.

Suddenly Wall Street
figures were celebrities.

They got choice tables
in exclusive restaurants.

- A lot of people on Wall
Street start to get the sense

that doing wrong isn't so bad.

That they weren't
gonna get caught.

- But as
Wall Street runs wild,

believing the good
times will never end,

the SEC is on the brink
of a major breakthrough.

One that could
change everything.

After years of frustration,

lead SEC investigator Gary Lynch
has finally caught a break.

A letter he received
has revealed a
potentially massive case

of insider trading.

It contains a tip

that someone at
the Bahama's branch

of Switzerland's oldest
bank, Bank Leu International,

has been making
suspicious trades.

Playing the market in a way

only someone with inside
information could.

Making big buys right
before a stock jumps

on 28 different stocks.

Gary Lynch has one question.

Where is the
information coming from?

Bank Leu's Bernard Meyer

has been dreading a
call from the SEC.

As Meyer has been taking
instructions on what to buy

from a client known by the
code name, Mr. Diamond.

- Bernard
Meyer had to know

that it is very rare
to win all the time.

You ask any trader,

you don't win most of the time.

In fact, you lose
plenty of the time.

And these trades were
not only successful,

but they were getting
bigger and bigger.

- Meyer
plays dumb to the SEC.

Then places a frantic call
to explain the situation

to Mr. Diamond, also
know as Dennis Levine.

- Right, understood.

But maybe if we could just-

- Levine's
plan had Bernard Meyer

claim he made all
the winning trades

based on his own research.

And dared the SEC
to prove otherwise.

- Dennis Levine was
foolish to think

that anyone would believe
that the bank officials

would as a side job trade
successfully over and over,

anticipating mergers.

How many people could
anticipate over and over

these successful trades?

- While
Dennis Levine scrambles

to cover up his deception,

Ivan Boesky is
pitching Michael Milken

on a deal that will transform
his arbitrage operation

into a multi-billion
dollar corporate raider.

- I could raise a
quarter-billion no problem.

You give me the rest,

I'll finally be able to
operate the way I want.

Everything before this
has been a warm up.

- As a
corporate raider,

Boesky would go from
betting on takeovers,

to making takeovers happen.

Ruthlessly transforming,
or sometimes gutting,

under-valued companies.

- I like the confidence.

But you're asking me
to raise 700 million.

- Mike, you've been in
the trenches with me.

With margin, that gives me

almost three billion
to play with.

There's not a
corporation on earth

that won't piss themselves
when they hear me coming.

- I have no
doubt they will.

Close the door on your way out.

The deal's a go.

- Thank you.

You won't regret.

- I don't do regrets.

Ivan, I've done my homework.

- I might
have to write that down.

- Write
this one down, too.

I won't close until we
settle up what you owe me

from our trades.

- Well, of course.

I'll have my guy
work the numbers up.

- Have them check
them with my guy.

- Of course, of course.

Once that's done, I'll
send the money to you.

- Good.

- Boesky
has always disguised

Milken's half of their
insider trading profits

as security transactions.

But creating that type of
accounting cover takes time.

To get his new deal with
Milken signed quickly,

Boesky knows he will have
to do something risky.

Cut Milken a $5.3 million check.

While Boesky and Milken's
partnership continues to grow,

at Bank Leu, the walls are
closing in on Dennis Levine.

At Levine's suggestion, Bank
Leu has hired Harvey Pitt

to defend them in the
SEC investigation.

- Harvey Pitt was
a former SEC commissioner.

A brilliant strategist,

a genius as a lawyer.

- After
interviewing Bernard Meyer,

Pitt sees too many
holes in the story.

Pitt confronts Meyer.

Getting him to admit he was
not responsible for the trades.

And warns that if he doesn't
reveal who Mr. Diamond is,

that Meyer, himself, could
end up taking the fall.

- This is Gary Lynch.

- Gary, Harvey Pitt here.

I'm in the Bahamas,
and I have some news.

- What kind of news?

- The kind where I tell
you my client is prepared

to reveal the name of
the person responsible

for all the trades.

- I'm listening.

- If you agree to prosecute
only the party in question.

- I don't know.

Sounds a little out
of line considering

your client's first
response was that

he made the trades himself.

I don't like being
lied to, Harvey.

- Join the club.

Let's make this right.

- What kind of name
are we talking?

- Trust me, Gary, he's a whale.

- In the battle

to bring order back
to Wall Street,

Gary Lynch believes he
could be on the brink

of the biggest
case of his career.

- Gotta run this up the chain.

- Reeling in Drexel
Burnham's Dennis Levine.

Now, all Lynch and the
SEC has to do is find him.

Federal agents search for
Levine at home, and at work.

Even crashing his
scheduled meeting

with Revlon CEO, Ron Perelman.

He's nowhere to be found.

When Levine learns the
SEC is looking for him,

he turns himself in,

thinking he can convince them
it's all a misunderstanding.

- Mr. Levine,
right this way.

- But what
Levine doesn't realize,

is how much the
government has on him.

- Hi, Dennis Levine.

- Gary Lynch, SEC.

- I am sorry, but this
is really just all a

big misunderstanding.

- No, Mr. Levine, it isn't.

- You're under
arrest for conspiracy

to commit securities fraud,
tax evasion, perjury.

- What?

- You have the right
to remain silent.

Anything you say can and
will be used against you

in a court of law.

- Dennis
Levine's world-

- What?

has just come crashing
down around him.

The single largest insider
trading ring in history

has been exposed.

Levine was making buys

through a secret
account with Bank Leu.

But when employees at Bank Leu
noticed he never was wrong,

more and more of them made
the same buys as Levine.

Which, as it spread,

eventually created enough
evidence to lead back to Levine.

- Jesus Christ,
I'm under arrest?

- Do you understand these
rights as I've read them to you?

- Yes.

- Take him away.

- But what the
government doesn't know,

is that Dennis Levine is
just the tip of the iceberg.

Martin Siegel fears that they
could be coming for him next.

Even though he cut
ties with Boesky,

Siegel knows Levine
was his replacement

for insider intel.

So the news of Dennis
Levine's arrest

has him looking
over his shoulder,

wondering if the
SEC is on to him.

As word of the government
crackdown spreads,

people begin to realize that
the bull market might be rigged

to make just a few men
on the inside rich men,

like Ivan Boesky.

- "Wall Street Journal"
is one line one.

- Ivan Boesky.

- James Smith,
"Wall Street Journal", sir.

Did you hear what
happened to Dennis Levine?

- Did I hear about what?

- The arrest
of Dennis Levine?

Managing Director at
Drexel, Burnham, Lambert?

- Levine? Never heard of him.

- Do you
have any comment

about Dennis Levine
being arrested?

- Listen, I actually gotta go,

I got a meeting in
about five minutes,

but appreciate the call.

- Ivan Boesky
is the ultimate insider.

- Let's pick this up in an hour.

- Getting
rich in a rigged game

of his own creation.

- When Dennis
Levine was arrested,

Boesky had to know
he was in trouble.

He had to know Dennis
Levine would turn on him.

And he had very good
evidence against him.

- For Dennis Levine,

taking down Boesky
is his only hope.

Under questioning by the U.S.
Attorney Charles Carberry,

Levine reveals each step in
his relationship with Boesky.

Giving the government more
than they ever expected.

- Ivan, Dennis Levine
is one line one.

- Put him through.

- But
while the SEC and DOJ

believes he is
telling the truth-

- Ivan Boesky.

- They know
Levine's words alone

will not be enough
to get Ivan Boesky.

- Dennis? My God,
how are you doing?

- Not so good, Ivan.

- Well, I can't
imagine it's easy.

I've only seen a
couple of accounts.

But it seems like a,

well, it sounds like
a pretty rough deal.

- I'm gonna fight it, of course.

- Well, of course.

- And I just wanted
to let you know

that there's absolutely no
need for you to worry about,

you know, what we talked about.

- The only thing I'm worried
about, is you, Dennis.

You're under a lot of stress.

Make sure you're
getting enough sleep.

And plenty of water.

- Hey, my blood
pressure was through the roof.

But I am on
medication, I am fine.

I just called to tell
you that you shouldn't-

- Dennis, listen, I
hate to cut you short,

but I got a meeting
in five minutes.

And I need to get my
materials together.

- Right, right, understood.

But maybe if we could just-

- I really
appreciate you calling.

You take care of yourself,

and remember all
things will pass.

- Ivan, hang on.

- Desperate to reduce

his sentence by cooperating,

Dennis Levine is
running out of options.

- Ivan was very
connected to Dennis,

so many meetings, so
many interactions.

It was bound to come out.

And I do think it had
to really scare Ivan.

To the point where he realized

that he was not only vulnerable,

but that he better figure
out what he was going to do

when they came after him next.

- Smelling a rat,

Boesky needs to make sure
his work with Michael Milken,

won't raise any red flags.

- Obviously, everyone at
Drexel is in complete shock.

- Well, as was I.

Have you heard
anything from him?

- Our lawyers have
bolt that door shut.

- Of course, yeah.

- Have you?

- We didn't know each
other all that well.

You know, just the
occasional, of course,

business phone call, you know?

- Right.

Right.

- Anyways, this is how the
SEC is doing business now,

seems prudent for us to maybe-

- Dial things back, definitely.

Especially with all
this media attention.

- Well, exactly.

Once that dies down, things
should get back to normal.

- Yeah, well, they better.

In the meantime,

we need to do something
about that check.

- Well, of course.

- In a
relationship carefully

constructed to remain secret,

Milken and Boesky have
always been careful

to cover their tracks.

But even as they
agree to step back

until things blow over,

there's one piece of
evidence that both men know

could ruin everything.

- The check from Boesky to
Milken for $5.3 million,

to me, is the biggest
irony in this whole story.

It's a tiny amount of money

compared to the kind of
deals that those two did.

But it was the
once piece of data

that didn't really clean up.

- Back in New York,

Ivan Boesky is determined to
make that problem disappear.

- They're waiting for you
in the conference room.

- Reschedule.

- He
orders his accountant

to destroy any materials

pertaining to the $5.3 million
payment he made to Milken.

But just as Boesky
believes he's erased

his biggest problem,

Gary Lynch and the
SEC make their move.

Facing an uphill legal batter,

Lynch takes a gamble.

- It's difficult
to prosecute an arbitrager,

because the law doesn't provide
for comprehensive tracking

of transactions by arbitragers.

- When's he gonna be back?

- The government thought
that it was looking at

a two-year investigation

with dubious
prospects of success.

- Thank you.

- With Dennis
Levine's testimony

being so convincing,

Lynch crafts a massive subpoena.

Demanding documents from Boesky,

that will make it
clear that Levine

has implicated him
in serious crimes.

And hope it's enough to
scare Boesky into caving.

- Ivan Boesky didn't
really try to hide

that he was collecting
inside information.

I think he even kept
files on what he found.

- People like Boesky
never thought the SEC

would catch up to them.

And they started feeling
that they were above the law.

- After
receiving the subpoena,

Boesky reaches out to
his lawyer, Harvey Pitt.

- Ivan?

- The
same Harvey Pitt

who successfully
defended Bank Leu.

- Pitt was a genius as
a lawyer for Boesky,

because he knew exactly
how to play the government.

- After
reviewing the subpoenas,

Pitt arranges to meet
secretly with Boesky.

- Thanks, Anna.

- On the condition
that he tells him everything.

- Let's begin.

- Over the
course of two weeks,

Ivan Boesky reluctantly
reveals all the details

of his illegal activity,

including every deal he had
done with Michael Milken.

And Harvey Pitt
begins to understand

the magnitude of the case.

- Harvey Pitt
thought Ivan Boesky

just committed insider trading,

and this would be
a rather easy case

to fight the government on.

But once he learned
by talking with Boesky

the depth of what they had done,

and the depth of the connection,

and the inter-workings of
all the different things

that would come under
securities fraud,

he realized this is
a much bigger case

than just insider trading.

It was about stock manipulation.

Conspiracy to commit
securities fraud,

and given how big a part
of this network he was,

it was a very, very big case.

- Michael
Milken's financial backing,

and inside information
made Ivan Boesky richer

and more powerful
than ever before.

But now Boesky must decide

if he's willing
to betray Milken,

or risk losing everything.

- You know, Seema's father,

he didn't want us
to get married.

For some reason every
time I stand here

and look out on this beautiful
view, I think of that.

That I wasn't good enough
for his little girl.

Seema, she's stronger
than he ever was.

He couldn't say no to her.

But I showed him.

I made more money in
the last five years

than he made in a lifetime.

Of course the son-of-a-bitch
didn't live to see it.

- Ivan, you're gonna
need to cut a deal.

- Ivan Boesky
is backed into a corner.

And the only way out, is
the one he fears most.

- Milken's
gonna kill me.

- No one goes to Wall
Street to change the world.

Anyone who tells you
that is full of it.

They're going there
to make money.

And there's a lot of
ways you can make money

without violating the law,

without running the
foul of regulators.

- With Boesky
ready to cooperate,

Harvey Pitt works to negotiate
a deal with the government.

- Harvey Pitt knew that Boesky

really couldn't
defend his position.

To bring him in, he could
cut an amazing deal.

- Pitt submits
a written proffer,

outlining the information
Boesky will provide.

- When the government got
to him, he was famous.

He had been on the cover
of "Time Magazine".

It was like, wow,
you got the big dog.

And, when you're the big dog,

it's not that easy to say,

"I'm gonna give
you a bigger dog."

And there was only one other
bigger dog to give them.

And that was Michael Milken.

- The government was
looking for the bigger fish.

The biggest fish on Wall
Street was Michael Milken.

So, Boesky had
information to trade.

- Boesky
agrees to give them

the biggest name of them
all, Michael Milken.

U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani

who has made his name
prosecuting mafia king-pins.

- 14 of them already arrested.

- Signs
off on the deal.

Boesky will plead guilty
to a single felony

of conspiracy to commit
securities fraud.

Which carries a
five-year sentence.

He also agrees to pay
$100 million in fines.

A quarter-billion
in today's dollars.

And the equivalent of
the SEC's annual budget.

Once the deal is signed,

Boesky reveals his illegal
dealings with Martin Siegel,

and other prominent
Wall Street bankers.

But none more prominent
than Michael Milken.

The information Boesky
provides on Milken

shocks investigators.

Before this, Milken wasn't
even on their radar.

- It's great work.

It's great work.

- Now, they
realize they could have

enough evidence to put
the most powerful man

on Wall Street behind bars.

As part of Boesky's deal,

he agrees to place a
phone call to Milken.

The government hopes
Boesky can get Milken

to incriminate himself on tape,

since he has no idea
Boesky's been arrested.

The goal is simple.

Get Milken to acknowledge
the $5.3 million payment

Boesky made from Milken's share

of their insider stock trades.

- The idea was
that Boesky would bring up

the $5.3 million which was
the crucial piece of evidence,

the bill that Boesky paid
for consulting services.

Not itemized, clearly
about, to the government,

about something illegal.

Boesky called Mike's home

to get him to
incriminate himself.

- I'm sorry, Ivan,

that sounds like an
issue for another day.

- Well, it won't take long.

I just need, well, if
we could just go over-

- I told you, I'm busy.

Market closes in 15 minutes,
why aren't you busy?

- Well, this business
is kind of occupying

my thoughts right now.

I think you, of all
people, can understand.

- Look, Ivan, I gotta go.

I'm in meetings until nine.

Let's try and catch
up another day.

- Well, how about tomorrow?

- I don't know,
call my secretary.

- Well, that could
of gone better.

- Mike basically
dances away from everything.

He doesn't give Boesky
what the government wants.

He does not incriminate himself.

- The
government believes

they have a strong case.

But getting Milken on tape
would make it a slam-dunk.

With a deadline to announce
Boesky's arrest approaching,

time is running out
to get Milken to talk.

So the government tries
a different angle.

Sending Boesky to Los Angeles

to meet with Milken in person.

While wearing a wire.

- Anyway, the SEC
subpoenaed my records.

- Yeah, well, can't be
much of a surprise, right?

- Well, no but, this
seems different.

They're really coming at me.

I mean, the Commission's
breathing down my neck.

- Well, you have
nothing to hide, right?

- Well no, but there
is the whole thing

with the profit and loss
calculations from the trades.

I mean, we need to make
sure we're on the same page.

- Where I stand,
there is no page.

My guy doesn't
remember anything.

Does yours?

- Well, no.

But there is the check.

- Ivan, listen.

You've gotta be very
careful with what you say,

and where you say it.

Electronic surveillance has
gotten very sophisticated.

This whole place
could be bugged.

- Milken had a sense, an
animal instinct sense,

that this meeting
was not a good thing.

That Boesky might have
affairous purpose.

- With Boesky's
attempt to get Milken on tape

getting nowhere,

the government realizes
they have to move forward.

And prepare for the fallout

after Boesky's arrest
is made public.

They announce the arrest
on November 14th, 1986.

- Ivan Boesky
described as a man

who's arrogance has
been stripped away.

Boesky's case crystallized
all the faucets

of the problem of
insider trading,

and there's not
doubt that the man

has become a symbol of what's
wrong with Wall Street.

- I hope that Ivan goes
to jail for 20 years,

that .

- They waited
until the market closed,

so that the marketplace
would have the weekend.

And the investor community

wouldn't have to
react right away.

They'd have time
to think about it,

and make their decisions.

- Wall Street is in a
continuing state of shock,

as a result in the greatest
scandal in it's history.

- Wall
Street is stunned.

And wondering who might be next?

- As long as Ivan Boesky
was still talking,

there was a certain paranoia
for anyone on Wall Street

that had ever spoken
to him at all.

- For Martin Siegel,

the news comes as
little surprise.

After being
implicated by Boesky,

Siegel is confronted
with charges.

- Hello? This is Martin Siegel.

- He immediately
turns himself in,

and makes a deal to cooperate.

- Martin Siegel got
two years jail time.

And a fine of $10 million.

So you have to compare
that to what he did.

And which was very small
in terms of what he earned.

But in what he did to
fuel these activities,

and ultimately, the crimes
of others was very big.

- Soon after
Siegel makes his deal,

the first sentence for insider
trading is handed down,

to Dennis Levine.

Two years in federal prison,

and a fine of $362,000.

And his $10 million
Swiss bank account

becomes the property of the SEC.

With Dennis Levine in jail,

and more charges and
investigations expected,

investigators begin
to get nervous.

Soon, the bull market
created by Michael Milken's

junk bond empire
is under assault.

On October 19th, panic ensues.

- Monday, October 19th, 1987,

the Dow fell 22.7%
in a single day.

It's still the largest
single percentage decline

in the history of U.S.
financial markets.

- Stock markets were in free
fall around the world today.

The fall on Wall Street was
worse than the crash of 1929.

- My first
live reporting experience,

was covering the crash of 1987.

And there was an enormous look
of fear on people's faces.

The shell-shock
type of reaction.

Some people were carried
out, losing everything,

in a single day.

I watched people go out of
business in front of me.

I thought a
depression was coming.

- To advert disaster,

the Federal Reserve floods
the system with cash.

The safeguards
implemented by FDR,

after The Great Depression,

keep the market from
plummeting further.

And Black Monday 1987
does not usher in

a nationwide recession.

But the fallout with
the public is clear.

The greed that fueled
the bull market

was no longer seen as
glamorous, it was criminal.

And men like Ivan Boesky
were the face of it.

- I think the scandals
of the 1980s reminded us

that these are bankers who
are using their resources

to increase their wealth.

That's what Wall Street does.

Wall Street is not there
to serve the public,

Wall Street is there to
serve the biggest actors

and the events of the late
80s reminded us of it.

- In
December of 1987,

thanks to his cooperation
in the Milken investigation,

Ivan Boesky is sentenced
to only three years

at the Federal Prison Camp
in Lompoc, California.

- The fine is a third of
what it should of been.

It was the ultimate
sweetheart deal.

- After being
released from prison in 1991,

Boesky cuts one more deal.

In a divorce settlement
with his wife.

She agrees to pay
him $23 million,

and $180,000 a year for life.

Banned for life from
the finance industry,

Boesky retreats to a
Southern California mansion,

where he still lives today
with his second wife.

Despite criticism
from the public,

Boesky's incarceration marks
a triumph for the government,

and it's fight against
insider trading.

But even though they are proud

to have exposed the corruption,

and relieved to have staved-off
a market catastrophe,

they know their work isn't done.

The biggest whale in the
scandal is still out there.

Without Boesky's
full confession,

there would be no case
against Michael Milken.

Now, the government can
open up a full investigation

into Milken, and Drexel Burnham.

Milken can feel the
walls closing in.

But he's not going
to go quietly.

- They haven't issued
any subpoenas yet.

Whatever you need to do, do it.

- He was a king, he had
enormous power within Drexel.

- Michael Milken
is leaving nothing to chance.

Anything potentially
incriminating must
be dealt with.

- The lesson's
pretty simple.

If you don't do business
with criminals, you're okay.

All he had to do, is not be
in business with Ivan Boesky,

and none of this would
ever had happened.

- After the
government issues subpoenas

for documents,

Milken denies any wrongdoing.

Hiring one of the country's

most powerful lawyers
to defend him.

And as the
investigation heats up,

Milken goes on the
counter-attack.

Launching a public
relations blitz,

denying all of Boesky's claims.

And getting newspapers
nationwide to publish op-eds,

written by Milken's supporters.

- Robert
Lipton's business rule,

he says largely, because
of Michael Milken.

- Do
you believe in him?

- Yes, I do.

And I think the ad is
a reflection of faith,

and support, and friendship.

- A who's-who
of corporate America

signed the ad,

because of their
personal loyalty

to the 42 year old executive
of Drexel, Burnham, Lambert.

- But as
Milken goes all out

to craft a positive
message with the public,

the government turns up the
heat inside of Drexel, Burnham.

With the threat of prosecution,

some of his closest
associates decide

now is the time to
cooperate with the feds.

With their testimony,

the case against
Milken grows stronger.

Now, just when things
couldn't seem worse,

comes an unexpected bombshell.

- Look at this.

- While
looking through

Ivan Boesky's personal files,

investigators discover a
previously unknown copy

of the spreadsheets prepared
by Boesky's accountant

to calculate the infamous $5.3
million payment to Milken.

- I think there's enough
evidence to put him away.

- $5.3 million in the scheme
of what they were doing

was very small.

Yet, it was pivotal in the case

to connect Boesky to Milken;
and Milken to Boesky.

- The documents
offer concrete proof

of Boesky and Milken's
illegal stock parking,

and price manipulation.

But even as the
government's case

against him grows stronger,

Milken stands strong.

Fully-supported
by Drexel Burnham,

but that changes
when the government
increases the pressure,

telling Drexel's
CEO Fred Joseph,

the only way to avoid
indictment himself,

is to fire Michael Milken.

- Michael Milken.

- Michael, it's Fred.

- Hello, Fred.

- Listen, I'm just out
of a meeting with the board,

and well,

I'm just gonna say it.

We voted to terminate
your employment.

Now obviously, all
you've done for the firm,

you know, which we're
so grateful, and-

- Spare me the plenitudes, Fred.

Am I not innocent
until proven guilty?

- Michael,
this isn't about that.

You must understand the
position you put the company in.

- No! I don't understand!

The position I put
the company in?

How?

I have done everything
for this company.

I've done everything
for you, Fred!

After all these years, how
you can treat me like this?

- This isn't personal.

You know you'll always have
my support as a friend.

But the bank can go under.

Michael, please say something?

- I don't have
anything else to say.

- Michael, I-

- Cut
loose from the company

he had turned into a
Wall Street institution,

Michael Milken is soon
facing even bigger problems.

On March 29th, 1989,

Mike Milken is
indicted of 98 counts

of racketeering and fraud.

But, he's not the only one.

Giuliani has also indicted
Milken's brother, Lowell,

for racketeering and fraud.

Unwilling to put
his brother at risk,

and a show of loyalty,

Milken offers to cut a
deal with the government

in exchange for dropping
the charges against Lowell.

- He took the
deal to sacrifice himself.

And I remember thinking
what is the line?

"There is no greater
love than this,

"that a man lay down his
life for his brothers."

That's what he thought he
was doing with the plea deal.

- Good morning,
Mr. And Mrs. Milken.

- Milken ultimately
fell on a sword

to save Lowell, his brother.

- Less
than a month later,

Michael Milken pleads
guilty to six counts

of securities and
tax violations.

- In retrospect,

Milken had an excellent chance
of being found innocent.

I think he capitulated
mostly to save his family.

- In addition
to a lifetime ban

from the securities industry,

Milken agrees to pay
$200 million in fines,

plus a $400 million
settlement with the SEC.

- It was not cool to
be crooked anymore.

You didn't joke about
this shit anymore.

Takeovers kind of went
for awhile.

There were no takeovers.

There was no financing.

Everything, just like
the party was over.

Look, Wall Street
never changes, right?

It runs on two things.

Greed and fear.

It caused a generation
of Wall Streeters,

especially Wall
Street administrators,

and lawyers, to just
be much more careful.

Because it introduced
a fairly new concept

to Wall Street and to
the world of finance.

And that was criminality.

That you could do
something on Wall Street,

and you would end
up at Club Fed.

- On the morning
of November 21st, 1990,

with his criminality exposed,

his financial empire in tatters,

Michael Milken prepares
to receive his sentence.

- Your honor, what I did
violated not just the law,

but my own principles
and values.

I deeply regret it, and will
for the rest of my life.

I'm truly sorry.

- Even
with this deal,

the consequences for
Michael Milken are severe.

10 years in prison.

The man who created a new way

of doing business
on Wall Street,

has been brought down by
the forces he unleashed.

And betrayed by the other
half of his insider alliance,

Ivan Boesky.

- After Ivan Boesky plead guilty

in order to reduce his sentence,

he was naming names.

Michael Milken was one of them.

And then it became a question
in the minds of many,

whether Boesky's confessions
about Milken were true.

Or whether they were just
a matter of convenience,

to try to get him
a lighter sentence.

- Most people think
that Michael Milken

was railroaded by Boesky.

- After
judicial review,

Michael Milken's sentence is
reduced from 10 to two years.

- Mike Milken was guilty
of being Mike Milken.

He wasn't sentenced for
very much for what he did.

He was sentenced
for what he was.

And what he wanted to do.

And the threat that he
represented to Wall Street

and to American businesses.

- I think for
him the biggest punishment

was the humiliation.

I think that had
to hurt the most

given the type of
person that he was.

And I think that if we
measured it from that,

he was, he suffered.

- Although
barred from trading,

Milken doesn't retreat
from public life.

He reinvents himself,

donating millions
to good causes.

- I suspect that,

when people ask how
Milken is viewed today,

it's largely as
a philanthropist.

In L.A., he's given money to
all sorts of worthy causes.

- Michael Milken supports
medical research.

And he's done a lot of medical
research on prostrate cancer.

- Milken
is committed to

leaving behind a
positive legacy.

- And I think a lot of people
are willing to overlook

what crimes he may,

or may not have,
committed back in the day.

Because he's clearly
made a sincere effort

to better the world, ever since.

- The story of
Wall Street's most iconic era

comes to an end.

But, it's just another
chapter in an ongoing story.

- The biggest and most
successful traders,

and investors on Wall
Street don't always win.

They'll talk about the
failures that they've had,

and the lessons they
learn from them.

And how that can help
you invest in the future.

- One that
started in a young nation,

struggling to find itself.

- America was
a country that itself,

was hugely ambitious,

that was increasing prosperous,

and where there were
incredible opportunities.

- Lead forward
by men of vision and genius.

- These larger than
life individuals

did what they saw fit

to create these very
large enterprises.

- Building
new industries.

- Competition will
always come in,

when there's profits to be had.

And there's room for
many participants.

- While
they bent the rules,

and sometimes broke them,

these titans shaped America.

- Most of the leading
figures on Wall Street,

recognized the money
was a currency of power.

- Banking was a
fundamental aspect

of the economy as a whole.

They were these
private businesses

that basically had their
finger on the pulse

of the American economy.

- Together, they
forged the financial system.

And, the world we know today.