King ofjunk

This is the story of a man who transformed a minor league investment bank into afirm capable of taking on – and beating – the giants of Wall Street. He is widelyacknowledged as one of the great financiers of his era. But his win-at-all-costsattitude landed him in prison. Philip Moore reports

Perhaps the most influential and decisive meeting in the history of the high-yield bond market took place almost exactly 20 years ago. It was a meeting that, arguably, would change the face of the US – and global – capital market for good. It was a meeting that would shake up the US investment banking community. And it was a meeting that would ultimately put corporate America on notice that sloppy or idle management teams, happy to drift through life without maximising returns for their