ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603120022
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: DAVID E. KALISH ASSOCIATED PRESS
Can this be the same Michael Milken felled in the biggest insider-trading scandal in Wall Street history?
He ``revolutionized finance,'' hails a business magazine. He ``unquestionably'' got a bad rap, says a prominent economics professor. Business schools embrace the former junk-bond king as a coveted speaker.
Once a personification of 1980s greed, Milken is welcomed in some circles as a financial wizard and generous altruist - a dogged donator of time and millions of dollars to important education and medical causes.
Though Milken's public persona is not new, the financier's image is undergoing repair at a crucial time. Last week, a federal judge extended his probation by three months because of a new Securities and Exchange Commission probe into his business dealings, which may have violated terms of his punishment for securities fraud. Milken has said he didn't flout those terms.
``I am reminded of the political campaigns that are going on - everyone is sprucing up their images,'' said Alan Bromberg, a Southern Methodist University securities law professor.
``He may be looking for a pardon somewhere along the line; this may be part of a campaign for that.''
Supporters insist Milken has not increased public appearances and harbors only good intentions in lecturing at colleges and banquets about his famous tactics for raising money for corporate ventures.
Moreover, Milken, who is in remission from prostate cancer, has donated millions of dollars and precious time to try to find a cure for the deadly disease. He was the featured speaker at Financial World magazine's annual CEO of the Year banquet Thursday night, a charitable event that raised more than $100,000 for Milken's Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate.
``There was no concern at all'' about Milken's criminal history, said magazine editor Barry Rupp, noting the magazine sought Milken's appearance, not the other way around. ``He's well-regarded in the financial community as someone who has really done something.''
The views, though, contrast with Milken's notoriety. Milken, still one of the richest financiers, pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud six years ago in connection with an insider trading scandal that ensnared a number of high-profile white-collar felons.
He served two years in prison, paid more than $1 billion in fines and was banished from the securities business for life, which means he is banned from associating with any securities dealer, broker or adviser.
Meanwhile, Milken's largess has grown since his release from prison three years ago. Giving by the Milken Family Foundation grew by more than one-third to $14.86 million in 1994 from the year before, according to the Foundation Center, a New York-based tracker of charitable giving.
Milken spokesmen dispute that the giving is intended to enhance Milken's image.
``What Michael has done and given is mostly a matter of public record and spans nearly two decades and there are public documents that show that,'' said spokesman Michael Reese.
Milken always has been an articulate advocate of his favorite causes. Even during the late 1980s federal investigation that felled him, Milken traveled around the nation drumming up support for the junk bonds he pioneered.
Some people remember his brilliance at raising money, not the criminal conviction.
``I think people consider that news old and cold,'' said Glenn Yago, an economics professor at the City University of New York, who invited Milken to speak before students at CUNY's Baruch College Thursday morning.
Yago said he believes Milken was ``unquestionably'' made a scapegoat by federal authorities who investigated him in the 1980s.
But school spokeswoman Zane Berzins said ``there were definitely mixed feelings'' about having Milken speak. Milken canceled the speech because of what his spokesman said was a last-minute medical appointment.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Michael Milken (right) mingles at Financial Worldby CNBmagazine's annual banquet Thursday. color.