Michael Milken

Financier, Philanthropist, Medical Research Innovator and Public Health Advocate

A legendary financier, one of the world’s best known philanthropists and a catalyst for change, Michael Milken is a tireless advocate for improving lives around the world by driving innovation in medical research, education, public health and access to capital.

Esquire magazine named Mike Milken one of “The 75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century.” Over the past four decades, Milken has been at the forefront of initiatives that have influenced public policy, accelerated medical research, re-envisioned education, supported public health and expanded access to capital for growing companies. He has been uniquely successful in creating value, whether measured in lives saved (Fortune magazine called him “The Man Who Changed Medicine”), students inspired or jobs created. Beginning in 1969, he financed thousands of companies that collectively created millions of jobs. His philanthropy, which began in the 1970s and paralleled his business career, expanded in 1982 with the establishment of the Milken Family Foundation. He also heads the Prostate Cancer Foundation and FasterCures, a Washington-based think tank that accelerates progress against all life-threatening diseases. Milken joined leading physicians in launching the Melanoma Research Alliance to support work on fatal skin cancers. He is chairman of the widely respected and influential Milken Institute, an economic think tank whose annual Global Conference brings more than 3,500 leaders from 50+ nations to Los Angeles each spring. The Milken Institute School of Public Health is named in recognition of a major gift from the Institute. In his keynote speeches, Milken addresses the key opportunities that lie ahead in finance, education, science and medicine—and how urgent it is that we address these issues head on.