Den of Thieves

When Boesky got to his New York office at 7 A.M., Milken was arriving in Beverly Hills at 4 A.M. They were in the habit of calling each other

Milken was a perfectionist and could be relentlessly critical, questioning a trade over and over, fixating on a fraction of a point. He’d ask the same question over and over,

Milken rarely socialized with others in the office and, indeed, spent little time with his own wife and his two sons and daughter, though he did show up for important sporting events and school occasions and coached his sons’ basketball team. On a family trip to Hawaii, Milken rented three suites in the hotel: one for him and Lori, one for the chil‍

I’m tired, and I’m going home to read research reports,” Dahl replied.

Milken was appalled at such a lack of stamina. “Read here, then go home and take a nap,”

a third that functioned as his office. He worked every day of the vacation from 3 A.M. until 8 A.M. Hawaii time, while the markets were open in New York.

With Milken in control, everyone conformed to his standards. The workday began promptly at 4:30 A.M. (7:30 A.M. in New York) and continued until 8 P.M. (11:00 P.M. in New York). Phones rang constantly. With his two phones, Milken often carried on multiple conversations at once. There was a cacophony on the trading floor, with questions and comments constantly shouted. After the market closed (at 1 P.M. California time), Milken scheduled meetings, racing from one conference

With Dahl, as with all his employees, Milken demanded total commitment and allegiance. No one left the office to eat; meals were catered every day for breakfast and lunch and often for dinner as well. To prevent any distractions, Milken hired several women to pick up dry cleaning for his traders and salesmen, go to the post office, wait at their houses for repairmen and deliveries, and take care of pe

No one had much private life. I

With rare exceptions, Milken only left his desk during work hours for nonbusiness reasons once a year, when he took his wife to lunch on their wedding anniversary. He usually ate at his desk, mostly junk food. He never seemed to get any exercise. Even during off hours, he was usually in his home office; calls there, even late at night and on weekends, were answered promptly. On the rare occasions when he did attend parties, he seemed awkward. At birthday parties, he spent most of his time playing with the kid

Milken was sometimes in the office before the scheduled opening. When his employees arrived at 4:30, they’d often find his notes on their desks, outlining their day’s agenda.