A Lifestyles Magazine

MICHAEL MILKEN THIS GENIUS GAME CHANGER IS SAVING LIVES BY ACCELERATING MEDICAL SOLUTIONS WORLDWIDE

Pre-Spring 268 2017 $15.00 lifestylesmagazine.com A LIFETIME OF INNOVATION How legendary financier and philanthropist Michael Milken has been creating value for half a century.

PHOTO BY SCOTT WITTER PHOTOGRAPHY

32 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

he economic and political shocks that pre- ceded the 1974–75 recession sent financial markets into turmoil. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s (OPEC) oil embargo was contributing to U.S. inflation of more than 11 percent. By TDecember 1974, the Dow Jones Industrial Aver- As Milken’s business grew from the late age had fallen 45 percent, interest rates nearly 1960s through the 1980s, he repeated this doubled, and large financial institutions had message often, not only to his employees, but stopped lending to all but their highest-rated also to investors and to the entrepreneurs borrowers. The gloom on Wall Street was pal- whose growing enterprises he financed. Today, pable. Yet, speaking to corporate and financial dozens of his former employees lead major leaders at his annual institutional research financial firms around the world and many of conference, 27-year-old Michael Milken was his clients have gone on to become household remarkably optimistic. names through the successful businesses they He outlined a persuasive argument about built. Part of a global philanthropic diaspora, why it was a great time to invest. (It was—over these leaders have clearly taken Milken’s words the next two years, stocks and bonds recovered to heart, creating foundations and programs strongly.) Then he put his remarks in a broader designed to assure children have the opportu- context: “Successful investors don’t just analyze nities these leaders want for their own families. balance sheets. The best investors are social Decades later, they continue to pursue these scientists. They understand current social and efforts enthusiastically. regulatory trends and project them to the future.” Milken (who prefers to go by Mike) is widely He continued: “And successful entrepreneurs known for his own extensive philanthropy in almost never start businesses with the primary medical research, education, access to capital, goal of achieving great wealth. Rather, they have and public health. His family and foundations a vision of creating a product or service that have given hundreds of millions of dollars delivers unique value. Their wealth is simply a directly to organizations in those fields, and by-product of that value creation. But no matter their funds have been matched or extended by what level of success or wealth we achieve, we billions more in public donations and follow- all want a meaningful life for our children. And on investments from industry and govern- your children won’t have that unless all children ment agencies. Just as venture capitalists seed in society have the opportunity for a meaningful promising business ideas to get them started, life. That, I believe, is the goal we should pursue.” he acts as a “venture philanthropist,” strategi- cally deploying philanthropic assets in ways that others then leverage for as much as 15 or 20 times the original contribution.

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 33 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN The Milken Diaspora: Giving Back Becomes a Habit Mike Milken’s own philanthropic efforts began in earnest in the 1970s and were formalized by the 1982 establishment of the Milken Family Foundation. But a full ac- counting of his philanthropic impact would include the influence he’s had on others. Here are just a few of several hundred former colleagues at his firm who—often with their own family foundations—have become noted philanthropists.

MARK & DEBBIE ATTANASIO LEON & DEBRA BLACK Mark is co-founder and managing partner Leon is founder and CEO of Apollo Global of Crescent Capital Group and lead owner Management. He and Debra endowed the of the Milwaukee Brewers. Debbie is a board Black Visual Arts Center at Dartmouth. He member of the Jewish Federation of Los is on the boards of FasterCures, Mount Sinai Angeles. Their philanthropy includes the arts, Hospital, and the Asia Society, and co-chairs environment, and the Brewers Community the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Debra Foundation which supports Wisconsin chil- serves on the boards of Rockefeller University dren’s health, education, and recreation. and the Metropolitan Museum. Together they also founded the Melanoma Research Alliance.

JOSHUA & BETH FRIEDMAN RICHARD & MARTHA HANDLER Joshua is co-founder and co-CEO of Canyon Richard is CEO of Jefferies Group and Martha Capital Advisors. His board affiliations is board president of the Wolf Conservation include Caltech, Harvard Management Center. Together they made the largest con- Company, the Los Angles County Museum of tribution ever given for student scholarships Art, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Beth, at the University of Rochester. They support a a graduate of Wellesley and the UCLA Ander- South Africa-based clinic, providing medicine son School of Management, serves on many and childcare for HIV patients. boards including Mattel Children’s Hospital UCLA and Jewish Community Foundation Los Angeles.

MITCH & JOLEEN JULIS KEN & JULIE MOELIS Mitch is co-founder and co-CEO of Canyon Ken is founder and CEO of Moelis & Compa- Capital Advisors. He endowed the Julis-Rabi- ny. He is a trustee of and major donor to the nowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance University of Pennsylvania, which he and Julie at Princeton as well as the Jewish and Israeli attended (as did his parents, all four of their Law Program at Harvard. Joleen is a trustee of children, and other relatives). They give to a the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum. Both range of medical research programs including are major donors to the Jacobs Technion- the Tourette Association of America. Cornell Institute.

JONATHAN & SHERYL SOKOLOFF TED & DANI VIRTUE Jonathan is managing partner at Leonard Ted is founder and CEO of MidOcean Part- Green & Partners. He and Sheryl endowed the ners. He and Dani met at Middlebury College, Sokoloff Family-Melanoma Research Alliance which two of their children also attended (MRA) Team Science Award at Yale Cancer and where he is a trustee. Ted is chairman of Center. He is on the MRA board and those of Youth INC, a venture philanthropy serving Williams College and the Los Angeles County more than 600,000 under-privileged New York Museum of Art, and they support many Jew- City children, and he and Dani support vari- ish organizations. ous medical research.

36 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

Mike and Lori with their three children and spouses, and nine grandchildren

Ferne and Bernard Milken

Less well known is the widening impact of Milken’s former “Times were tough for every- colleagues and clients who learned from him the importance of one during the Depression, but strategic philanthropy. To understand the depth and influence they were especially hard for my of his commitment to bettering society, one needs to go back to dad. His mother died during child- the 1950s. birth when he was three years old. Several years later, his father perished in AN ORIGINAL THINKER an auto accident, forcing him to live in a home Lori Soon after the Soviet Union first successfully tested a for orphaned boys. On top of that, he had been and thermonuclear device in 1953, homeowners across the United stricken with polio and walked with a limp. Mike States began building fallout shelters. Because these backyard But even without the support of parents, Milken structures couldn’t help kids while in school, teachers often he managed to work his way through led duck-and-cover drills that sent students diving under their college with multiple jobs, one of desks. At the Hesby Street Elementary School in Encino, Califor- which was filling peanut machines nia, Milken questioned whether this would do any good. around campus for a penny a bag. “If an atomic bomb hits our school,” he told his sixth-grade Later, when he was in law school, teacher, “ducking and covering won’t save us.” he took a job as a waiter at a He loved that school and its teachers, but an agreement had sorority house.” to be made: “I’d stop interrupting the class with my skepti- That’s when Bernard’s fortunes cism about safety drills and the teacher would stop trying to turned up because one of the soror- convince me that our desks would help when nuclear weapons ity sisters was Ferne Zax. They fell in love, started flying,” says Milken, laughing. married, and eventually moved to Los Angeles, Throughout his 70 years, he has consistently questioned ac- where they had three children: Michael, Low- cepted views. It’s an approach that has disrupted and improved ell, and Joni. Mike, the oldest, was born on July the status quo in both for-profit and charitable endeavors. 4, 1946. Bernard’s early struggles gave him a Fortune magazine called Milken “The Man Who Changed determination to succeed—a characteristic he Medicine;” Esquire said he is one of the “most influential people passed on to the next generation. of the 21st century;” and Forbes included him with other philan- It’s also clear that the values of their Jewish thropists named “Best in Class—The Visionaries Reimagining culture—tikkun olam (healing the world), tze- Our Children’s Future.” But when asked what achievements have dakah (charitable giving), and learning—were brought him the most satisfaction, he points to his roles as Lori core tenets of the family. Milken’s devoted husband, the father of their three children, and Milken says he’ll always remember the fam- a grandfather of nine. ily’s dinner-time conversations. “The whole Still, there’s no denying his outsized role in American family would debate current events and our society—a part nurtured early on by his parents, who met at the parents often quizzed us on our schoolwork. University of Wisconsin in the late 1930s. Milken recalls that his We’d discuss everything from the latest TV father, Bernard Milken, had overcome a host of adversities early shows to world events to how the post–World in life. War II changes in Los Angeles neighborhoods

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 37 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

were affecting my father’s business clients. As a lawyer and ac- had just stood by and watched as the rioters countant, my dad saw people’s changing fortunes up close and torched the structure. I couldn’t understand he gave us an early understanding of the risks entrepreneurs his logic.” took every day.” The man said that he had always felt like an The family household gave real meaning to the concept of outsider in white society, that there were no charity. As a schoolboy, Milken went door-to-door to collect opportunities for a black man to get ahead. His dimes and quarters for the Community Chest (now the United father had been unable to raise money to start Way). By the time he graduated from Birmingham High School, a business and he was resigned to the same where his classmates included actress Sally Field and super- fate. agent Michael Ovitz, he had been awarded the first-ever Encino “Here in Los Angeles—what I considered Junior Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Young Man Award the city of dreams—the American Dream was for effective leadership, outstanding community service, and denied to this man and others like him,” says academic achievement. Notably, it was not Milken, but his Milken. classmate and girlfriend, Lori (now his wife of nearly 50 years), The experience in Watts made such an who was elected “Most Likely to Succeed” in their senior class. impression that Milken decided to change his Milken was named “Most Spirited” and “Friendliest.” math/physics major to business so he could help increase access to capital for a wider range AN EARLY INFLECTION POINT of people. He graduated from Berkeley and As a freshman at the University of California, Berkeley, Milken went on to receive his M.B.A. from the Wharton looked forward to the intellectual stimulation of pursuing a School at the University of Pennsylvania. After double major in math and physics. He even dreamed of one day intensive study of business and its history, he running the U.S. space program. But those plans changed—his concluded that any nation’s true prosperity entire outlook on life changed—in August 1965, when he saw was more than just the total of its gross domes- disturbing news reports of urban rioting that continued for five tic product; a complete measure had to include days and nights only a few miles from his home. Defying his the economy’s capacity to create financial father’s warnings, he drove to South Central Los Angeles in the security, entrepreneurial opportunities, jobs, aftermath of the Watts Riots to see for himself what had hap- and a meaningful life for all its citizens. pened and—more importantly—why it happened. There, he met Soon he had developed an equation to an African-American man staring at the charred remains of the explain the components of prosperity: P = Ft factory where he had worked. (HC + SC + RA). Prosperity equals the collective “We talked for a while,” Milken remembers. “He had no sav- value of financial technologies acting to mul- ings and now, with that building gone, he had no job. Yet he tiply the total of human capital, social capital,

Milken’s Formula for Prosperity ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ P = Fti ( HCi + SCi + RAi) FINANCIAL HUMAN SOCIAL REAL PROSPERITY TECHNOLOGY CAPITAL CAPITAL ASSETS » Financial security Innovative processes & Productivity: » Rule of law » Cash » Entrepreneurial components including: » Skills » Property rights » Receivables opportunities » Convertible bonds » Education » Public health » Real estate » Jobs » Preferred stock » Universal education » Factories » Meaningful lives » Training » Religious freedom » Capital equipment » High-yield bonds » Experience » Police/fire protection » Roads » Collateralized loans » Creativity » Cultural resources » Buildings » Collateralized bonds » Habits » Universal suffrage » Infrastructure » Equity-linked securities » Values » Protection of creditors » Securitized obligations » Rigorous financial » Health reporting standards (mortgages, credit » Transparent markets cards, etc.) » Regulatory continuity » Derivatives

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 39 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

and real assets. “Financial technology” includes innovative processes and components such as convertible bonds, preferred stock, high-yield bonds (also known as “junk bonds”), collateral- Ted Turner ized loans, equity-linked instruments, securitized obligations, and derivatives. “Human capital” is the collective talent, training, and experience of people as well as programs that increase the length and quality of life. “Social capital” includes—among other concepts—the rule of law, property rights, education, public health, and transparent markets. “Real assets” are tangible Ted Turner: items on the balance sheet. This prosperity formula later guided Milken’s Extending the work in financing thousands of companies that created millions of jobs. When major banks ran into Impact problems in the early 1970s and turned off the lending The nonprofit programs of Mike spigot, he stepped forward and made capital available. As and Lori Milken over the past four- a 2008 New York Times article put it, “Mr. Milken helped cre- plus decades place them among the ate a new generation of companies and an entirely new way to leaders of American philanthropy. And finance nascent ideas that have helped fuel the global economy.” the charities of former employees add to Based on his studies of credit at Berkeley and of capital their impact. structure at the Wharton School, as well as his early practical The many entrepreneurs Milken fi- experience on Wall Street, he provided financing for key indus- nanced have created another legacy. Fel- PHOTO BY DAVID YELLEN DAVID BY PHOTO tries such as cable, cellular, energy, health care, housing, media, low Giving Pledge member Ted Turner, private equity, telecommunications, and more. for example, has had a profoundly posi- tive effect on environmental programs BUILDING BUSINESSES and international relations. Unlike many financiers, Milken considered human capital In 1980, when Turner launched CNN— to be part of any company’s balance sheet. And he emphasized then still referred to as “Cable News Net- future cash flow instead of “looking in the rearview mirror” at work”—skeptics said it was impossible to book value and reported earnings. He played this out by back- provide TV news around the clock and to ing such pioneers as Eli Broad (real estate and finance), Dr. compete with the established networks. Armand Hammer (energy), Henry Kravis and George Roberts With Milken’s financial backing, he (private equity), Carl Lindner (insurance), Craig McCaw (cel- proved the doubters wrong. Today, CNN lular telephones), Bill McGowan (telecommunications), John reaches every corner of the globe. Malone (cable), Rupert Murdoch (media), Steven and Mitchell From the beginning, Turner vowed to Rales (industrial), Leonard Riggio (book retailing), Steve Ross give back much of his wealth to society. (entertainment distribution), Mel Simon (shopping malls), Bob The ways he has done that have made Toll (home building), Ted Turner (cable networks), and Steve him a charitable legend. He sees protec- Wynn (resorts), among many other leaders of the companies he tion of water, air, and land as no less than helped build. They earned his respect and backing because they “an effort to ensure the survival of the hu- had greater vision than the risk-averse managers who histori- man species.” cally had counted on banks for financing. Since 1990, his conservation grants Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper called Milken’s finan- have exceeded $350 million; he gave an cial innovations “one of the greatest achievements of modern historic $1 billion gift to the United Na- capitalism.” He and his colleagues created what today’s business tions Foundation; and $250 million went schools teach as a cornerstone of global finance. Previously, to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which he capital structure was essentially a binary world: investment- helped create. Other major grants have grade debt or equity. Milken created a broad spectrum of securi- supported arts and culture, community ties where risk could be matched to the needs of individual development, and health. companies and investors. When Bloomberg Businesweek chose Despite remarkable business achieve- the 85 most important economic innovations of the past 85 ments, he says, “I consider my contribu- years, the Milken revolution was 7th, ahead of DNA sequencing, tions over the years the best investment Social Security, and email. I’ve ever made.”

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 41 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

Moreover, because of his early experiences, Milken’s “footprint” goes well beyond finance. In health and barriers facing minority-owned businesses also education philanthropy, he believes the same entrepreneurial began to fall. Milken funded Reginald Lewis, approach that was so effective in business can have a power- the first African-American to own a billion- ful impact when it seeks out best practices and empowers dollar company, and Linda Wachner, the first people to change the world. It is never, he stresses, just about woman to operate a Fortune 500 company writing checks. without inheriting it. Media companies in the Some of the myths about Milken emerged during a brief pe- Hispanic market, such as Univision and Tel- riod in his life during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he emundo Group, grew and created jobs thanks was dealing with the immense strain of a legal battle that had to his financing. become one of the 20th century’s most overwrought media events. Wall Street Journal columnist Holman Jenkins, echoing THE MILKEN MYTHOLOGY the view of many other observers, recently called it “a case It’s often said that innovators get the ar- that hasn’t stood the test of time.” rows in their backs. That’s never been truer But 30 years ago, anti-business publications often at- than in the case of Milken. Many appraisals of tacked him for his role in mergers and acquisitions, which his career rely largely on myths. He has been they claimed were eliminating jobs. These claims were not compared to John D. Rockefeller, whose 19th- supported by facts. Some publications have tried to set the century business practices provided grist for record straight: The Economist said Milken’s financial innova- the mill of muckraking journalists, and who tions “are credited with fueling much of America’s rampant was said to have “redeemed himself ” by good economic growth by enabling companies with bright ideas to works after retiring from active management get the money they need to develop them,” adding, “This was a at Standard Oil. This comparison is flawed be- boon to the American economy.” cause Milken’s philanthropy began long before The mythology that grew up around him eventually took his visibility in the public media and developed on a life of its own. In his introduction to Fenton Bailey’s 1992 in parallel with his business accomplishments. book, Fall From Grace, Harvard Law School professor Alan FROM LEFT TO Like Rockefeller, Milken created a new busi- Dershowitz admits that at first he “had been taken in” by the RIGHT ness model for those who followed. But unlike media stereotype. But after meeting Milken and conducting “a Rockefeller, who concentrated on industrial vast amount of research on the man,” Dershowitz wrote: “Old L-R: Jeffrey power, Milken’s lifelong goal was just the op- orders have never given up their reigns easily, whether they Jaensubhakij, posite—he sought to “democratize capital.” represented the Roman Empire, the British Empire or the So- Haslinda Amin, and A 2014 book, Roy C. Smith’s The Money Wars, viet ‘Empire’. Michael Milken was not part of the old order on Hiromichi Mizuno concluded that Milken is “the greatest finan- Wall Street, with its strong ties to the government. Nor were at the 2016 Milken cial genius this country has produced since most of the individuals whose ventures [he] helped finance. Institute Asia Summit J.P. Morgan.” One review of Smith’s book said By being a visionary and an innovator, who lent his support of Milken, “Every now and then, an individual to others of the same persuasion, and by being enormously Milken visits the comes along at the right time and place in successful at it, he provoked the wrath of the political and Valley Elemen- history who knows exactly where he or she is economic power structure.” tary School in San in that history, and leaves a world-historical Francisco footprint as a result.”

44 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

EARLY ADVERSITY the program rewards and inspires excellence in education. As of Just when Milken’s business career was start- 2016, more than 2,700 educators have each won an unrestricted ing to flourish in the 1970s, he and Lori were $25,000 award in surprise announcements at their schools. devastated by the diagnoses and early deaths Awardees can also join a national educator network dedicated of his father and, later, her mother, from dif- to strengthening K-12 education. ferent forms of cancer. Their search for cures MFF has worked closely with more than 1,500 organizations led to their first medical research grants, the around the world to address difficult urban issues, assist fami- beginning of a series of philanthropic initia- lies of children with life-threatening diseases, and build youth tives that now includes: programs. In addition to education reform initiatives that at- tract, develop, motivate, and retain the best talent for the teach- Milken Family Foundation ing profession, the foundation has highlighted the importance Since its establishment in 1982, the Milken of early childhood education and advanced the effective use of Family Foundation (MFF), co-founded by education technology. Milken and his brother, Lowell, has led Mike’s Math Club, an MFF curriculum enrichment program groundbreaking initiatives in education, run by Milken’s sister, Joni, shows thousands of inner-city medical research, the arts, and public health. elementary school students that math can be useful and fun. Lowell serves as chairman and has built many Milken created many of the techniques and regularly teaches Milken with students of its nationally-known education programs. classes. He has also taught at The Help Group, the largest U.S. in the advanced Milken has been active in several of its activi- organization of its kind for children with special needs related technology lab at the ties including the Milken Educator Awards, to autism, learning disabilities, ADHD, abuse, and emotional Milken Community America’s preeminent teacher recognition challenges. When Milken and Lori began supporting The Help School program. Often called the “Oscars of Teaching,” Group three decades ago, it had one location and served 300

PHOTO BY SCOTT WITTER PHOTOGRAPHY 46 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

48 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 49 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

children. Today, its six campuses, including the National Museum of African American Michael and Lori Milken Education and Therapy Building, serve 6,000 children, adolescents, and History and Culture young adults. After four decades of supporting minority entrepreneurship, The Milken Archive of Jewish Music/The Milken and Lori recently became founding donors of the new American Experience, led by Lowell, is a unique National Museum of African American History and Culture on repository of cultural and historical work that the National Mall in Washington, DC. Part of the Smithson- documents, preserves, and disseminates the vast ian Institution, the museum is described as “a place where all body of music pertaining to the American Jewish Americans can learn about the richness and diversity of the experience over 350 years. It has recorded more African-American experience and how it shaped the nation.” than 600 compositions by some 200 composers Milken and other donors joined President Barack Obama at the on 138 albums and also includes video docu- formal opening ceremony in September 2016. mentaries, photographs, oral histories, program notes, and essays, among other historical docu- ments. Milken at George Washington University Milken Scholars Milken and Lori established the Milken Schol- ars program to provide support and lifetime mentoring for college-bound students with significant financial need who have excelled academically, served their communities, and tri- umphed over major obstacles. Since its founding in the 1980s, the program has grown to encom- pass a network of more than 400 graduates and current students who have attended the nation’s most competitive universities. These include 87 who have gone to Harvard University; 49 to

Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University As important as research is to finding medical solutions, Milken believes that it is equally important to pursue pre- vention and wellness initiatives—key components of public health—because preventing disease in the first place is as good as a cure. George Washington University School of Public Health was renamed after the Milken Institute contributed $40 million, the Milken Family Foundation added $10 million, and philan- thropist Sumner Redstone gave another $30 million to establish the Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness in the Milken Institute School of Public Health. The Milken Institute This non-partisan economic think tank addresses job Milken Scholars Stanford University; 38 to Yale University; 33 to creation, health, financial innovation, aging, energy/environ- the University of California, Berkeley; and 26 ment issues, human capital, and philanthropy. The Institute to the University of Pennsylvania. Many Milken hosts more than 200 events a year, including major annual Scholars are the first in their family to attend conferences in Los Angeles, London, Singapore, New York, and college and they often come from diverse back- Washington, DC. Its signature event, the Milken Institute Global grounds—one quarter were born outside the Conference, has been called “the equivalent of a [one-week] United States, and three-fourths of their parents university with multiple seminars every hour” (Barron’s) and are immigrants, originating from 66 countries. “Davos with palm trees” (New York Times). Nearly 4,000 thought

50 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

leaders and decision makers from some 50 nations interact with Center for Financial Markets (Wash- more than 700 panelists each year. 2. ington, DC) promotes financial market Global Conference speakers include current and former understanding and works to expand access to heads of state as well as senior industry, government, and public capital, strengthen—and deepen—financial policy leaders from around the world. When he spoke at the markets, and develop innovative financial Global Conference, former president Bill Clinton said, “Michael solutions to global challenges. Jointly with the Milken asked me to come, so I’m honored to be here. I want to International Finance Corporation (IFC—part thank Mike and all the people who work with him for the won- of the World Bank Group) and George Wash- derful work that’s been done over the years.” ington University (GW), the Center recently “It’s a great learning experience every year,” says Milken. “We launched the IFC-Milken Institute Capital bring together leaders and influencers from a wide range of Markets Program at GW to bring mid-career sectors—people who would rarely meet each other—and they finance practitioners from Africa and other always leave Los Angeles with new insights.” developing regions to the U.S. for training that The Milken Institute carries its work forward through eight will help build their economies and create centers dedicated to increasing global prosperity by advancing meaningful job opportunities in their home collaborative solutions that widen access to capital, create jobs, countries. Another partnership, with the U.S. and improve health: Small Business Administration, facilitates lending in underserved domestic markets. FasterCures (Washington, DC) works to improve the medi- 1.cal research system and accelerate progress against all Lynda and Stewart Resnick Center for life-threatening diseases. Among its several programs is TRAIN 3.Public Health (Washington, DC) hosts the (The Research Acceleration and Innovation Network), a working annual Milken Institute Public Health Summit coalition of more than 80 disease-specific organizations that and seeks solutions to complex public health share best practices and research successes. This has strength- challenges as an integral part of the Institute’s ened these groups and helped place patients at the center of the mission. It serves as a hub for an exchange of research process. best practices among dozens of schools and In 2012, FasterCures hosted “A Celebration of Science” in programs in public health. The Resnick Cen- Washington to reaffirm the nation’s medical research commit- ter’s organizing principle is that extending life ment and honor scientific achievement. In three days of events and promoting health and wellness at all ages at the National Institutes of Health, the Kennedy Center for the are among the most effective strategies for Performing Arts, and George Washington University, senior spreading prosperity. By conducting research members of Congress from both parties joined more than 1,000 and raising awareness about such areas as nu- leaders in medical research, bioscience, patient advocacy, trition, smoking, and substance abuse, it works industry, philanthropy, and public policy. not only to improve health, but also to reduce In 2016, Milken met with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss the negative economic effects. the goals of the Obama administration’s “Cancer Moonshot” program—an initiative dedicated to making more therapies Center for the Future of Aging (Santa available to patients and improving the ability to detect cancer 4.Monica, CA) moves beyond the stereo- at an early age—within a broader strategy to accelerate medical types of dependency and decline that have research. Fittingly, the director of the Moonshot is Greg Simon, defined older age to look at aging in new a Milken protégé—earlier in his career, he was the first leader of ways. The Center studies and reports on the FasterCures. dramatic demographic shifts of recent de- FasterCures, which hosts the annual Partnering for Cures cades as longevity and declining birth rates conference in New York, also works to help establish and guide create a mature population of unprecedented new disease-specific research organizations. This includes size and significance. It leads initiatives to giving executive and administrative support to the Melanoma improve lives and strengthen societies by Research Alliance (MRA). Founded by philanthropists Leon and promoting healthy, productive, and purpose- Debra Black, MRA is the largest private funder of research on ful aging, particularly in more-livable cities melanoma—the disease that killed Bernard Milken. Over the where older adults increasingly make civic past decade, MRA has energized research; since its founding, contributions. It also examines the dramatic the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved 11 opportunities of the health and wellness rev- new therapies to treat the disease. These therapies give increas- olution emerging from the fields of genomics, ing hope to the more than one million Americans living with medicine, and technology. advanced skin cancer.

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 51 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

Asia Center (Singapore) promotes the 5.growth of inclusive and sustainable finan- cial markets in Asia by addressing the region’s demographic trends, trade relationships, and capital flows. It develops collaborative solu- tions and identifies strategic opportunities for the deployment of public, private, and philanthropic capital. As Asia’s economic influence grows, the Center provides research and thought leader- ship that can assist governments, investors, and industry.

Center for Strategic Philanthropy 6.(Washington, DC) counsels philan- thropists, family offices, wealth advis- ers, and foundations seeking to make transformative charitable gifts. It ap- plies the discipline of business to cre- ate success metrics that can maximize the social return on the more than $350 billion (and far more worldwide) given annually. It does this by taking a 360-degree view to “landscape” issue areas and identify potential road- blocks that help donors structure their contributions for the greatest impact. When right policies can help reproduce these environments and a philanthropist wants to support research spread economic growth. The organization is a resource for pol- on a particular disease, the Center creates icymakers and businesses seeking rigorous, accessible research a detailed “Giving Smarter Guide” to assess that shows how their geographic area compares with others everything going on in the field both domesti- that are competing for the same industries and human capital. cally and internationally. As an example, this process helped lead to the establishment of the California Center (Santa Monica, CA) identifies ways to Melanoma Research Alliance, now one of the 8.keep the state’s economy vibrant and growing. Because of most effective disease-specific organizations. the booming high-technology industry and a broader statewide upswing, California leapfrogged France and Brazil in 2016 to Center for Jobs and Human Capital become the world’s sixth-largest economy. At the Center’s an- 7.(Santa Monica, CA) promotes prosperity nual California Summit, the focus is often on ways to keep the and sustainable economic growth around state a global incubator for innovation and to overcome the the world by increasing understanding of the challenges of revitalizing education and creating a friendlier dynamics that drive job creation and promote business climate. industry expansion. Milken Institute research shows that the most prosperous regions have Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) at their foundation a wealth of knowledge- In 1993, two decades after he first began supporting medical based industries and an educated workforce research, Milken learned he had prostate cancer. “From my ear- with the skills those industries demand. The lier experience funding research, I knew a lot about melanoma,

52 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

“It was inspiring to see thousands of people on the Mall,” Milken remembers. “But we were determined that this would not be just a soon-forgotten, one-day event. Our goal was to ABOVE: General Norman Schwarzkopf and Milken addressed double the NIH budget and triple the resources thousands of marchers on the National Mall in 1998 of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). So we LEFT: California Governor Jerry Brown at the Milken joined with many other groups in making calls Institute on members of Congress.” BOTTOM LEFT: L-R: NIH Director Francis Collins, FDA Later that year, Congress agreed to increase Commissioner Robert Califf, CDC Director Tom Frieden, and the NIH budget from an annual $14 billion to Milken $27 billion over the next five years including a three-fold increase for the NCI. The yield on breast cancer, and other cancers,” he says. “But my knowledge of that investment is accelerated scientific dis- prostate cancer, a disease that hadn’t received much notice or covery that has saved, enhanced, and extended funding from public agencies, was very limited. It was clear that lives around the world. I had work to do.” PCF has raised awareness and funding With the typical thorough approach Milken took to any chal- through a broad range of events that bring lenge, he learned all he could. What he learned shocked him, patients, their families, and the broader com- not only because he was given just 12-18 months to live, but also munity into an ongoing dialogue. The Home because so many men were dying and so little was being done. Run Challenge, for example, involves Major He vowed to change that starting with a revolutionary idea. League Baseball fans at all 30 MLB stadiums Traditionally, investigators had to write massive funding appli- each June. Milken sometimes throws out the cations that reduced their time for research. At his new research first pitch, makes pregame announcements on organization—the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF)—medical the field, and joins play-by-play announcers in reviewers promised to read only the first five pages of grant pro- the broadcast booth to encourage donations posals, and those that were approved would be funded within for every home run. Since 1996, this single 90 days. Moreover, applicants were not required to submit clini- promotion has raised more than $45 million, cal data—a promising idea would suffice. part of the $650 million the public has given This was unheard of in the field of medical philanthropy and PCF for research. welcomed by researchers who felt their progress against disease was being slowed by needless bureaucracy in other funding BREAKING OUT OF SILOS organizations. The number of articles about prostate cancer in It’s not just the amount of money, but the the popular press took off and had the salutary effect of sending way it’s been used that has made the orga- millions more men to their doctors to get screened for the dis- nization so effective. Ever since its founding ease. But some other disease-specific groups became concerned in 1993, PCF has sought to break through that PCF would divert funds from their research programs. research silos by requiring the investigators it Milken assured them that his goal was to dramatically increase funds to collaborate across institutions and the size of the pie for all medical research, not just to expand report their results at annual scientific retreats. the slice for prostate cancer. More than 600 scientists from approximately In 1995, he hosted the first Cancer Summit and laid out a 20 countries in an ever-widening range of 10-point plan to rethink the war on cancer. Eventually, all 10 organizations and disciplines now participate points came to fruition, but not without tremendous efforts. In each fall. 1996, Milken began extensive planning for an unprecedented One example from some 2,000 PCF research March on Washington in support of increased funding of bio- grants shows the organization’s powerful medical research, especially at the National Institutes of Health leverage. In the mid-1990s, with support from (NIH). Finally, in September 1998, close to half a million patient NIH, Dr. James Allison—then a professor of advocates, doctors, and other providers came to the National immunology at the University of California, Mall in Washington and to medical research centers across the Berkeley—had been studying the process by United States. which cancer spreads by turning off the

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 53 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

Milken—top row, second from left—in his 1958 sixth-grade class photo

body’s normal immune-system response. At a eight other forms of cancer. And most importantly, deaths from crucial point in his research, when NIH grant prostate cancer have been cut in half since PCF’s inception. money ran out, his very promising work on a That’s 80 percent below early projections of what was expected new antibody might have stopped. But Milken to be a growing number of deaths as the baby-boomer genera- was convinced it was worth pursuing. An tion of men reached retirement age. award from PCF kept it going long enough for him to demonstrate market potential to a com- THE IMPACT OF MILKEN’S mercial partner. After further development, Berkeley received an initial licensing payment LEADERSHIP of more than $87 million from Bristol-Myers On November 29, 2016, the lead op-ed article in the Wall Squibb for Allison’s antibody. These funds were Street Journal was written by Milken under the headline “Three plowed back into further research. Ways to Find More Disease Cures.” Among other recommen- In 2011, the FDA approved Yervoy, devel- dations, his article urged Congress to pass the landmark 21st oped from Allison’s “immune system off-switch Century Cures Act, legislation he had discussed with a biparti- blocker,” after clinical trials showed dramati- san coalition on Capitol Hill for more than two years. The next cally extended survival times for many patients day, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Act with advanced melanoma. And because by the overwhelmingly positive margin of 392–26. The Senate today’s precision medicine can identify the then passed the bill 94–5 and sent it to President Obama, who specific sub-type of a tumor anywhere in the signed it into law. body, Yervoy and similar immunology drugs, Milken’s article also advocated expanded digitization of such as Keytruda and Opdivo, are now being health data held by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) so used against several other types of cancer. In researchers can develop more effective therapies faster for those recognition of this work, Allison won the 2015 who have served the nation in the military. On the same day the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medicine Research article appeared, Milken joined VA Secretary Robert McDonald Award, popularly known as the “American in Washington to announce a $50 million partnership between No b e l .” PCF and VA that will speed development of cures and provide Bolstered by significant research contribu- better access to the most advanced treatments for all veterans. tions from PCF-funded investigators, the FDA has approved six new prostate cancer treat- COMING FULL CIRCLE ments since 2010. Four PCF-funded discoveries Milken cites seven tenets that he believes lead to effective in prostate cancer now extend to saving lives in philanthropy:

54 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

LEFT: Milken and Shimon Peres BOTTOM: Milken with IFC Fellows

Follow your passion: “Define the core beliefs that motivate Foster teamwork: “Insist on collaboration and 1.you and stick with them...even if you get discouraged oc- 4.true partnership. You’ll find new and better casionally by lack of progress.” solutions you never thought possible. Investing in one area will pay dividends in others. Don’t be Get personally involved: “Roll up your sleeves and work afraid to share what you learn.” 2.with people who make a difference. They get the benefit of your participation and you gain a direct understanding of the Do no harm: “The effective philanthropist real problems and potential solutions, which makes you a more 5.recognizes that many nonprofits waste their informed giver.” money on programs that don’t solve a problem, or worse, have unintended negative consequences.” Think big: “Never underestimate what you can accomplish. 3.Philanthropists in the U.S. provide only three percent of Fight the zero-sum game: “Foundations don’t medical research giving, yet when strategically deployed, these 6.‘spend’ money on grants. They invest in society funds can be leveraged exponentially through other government to produce a greater return.” and corporate sources to save and improve lives.”

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 55 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN Billions to Trillions

Mike Milken has always believed the best way to change the world for the better is to empower the right people at the right time in their careers to lever- age their skills for the greater good. He calls it “building human capital” and says the same principle applies in many areas, including medical research and education. “Billions of dollars invested in people with the capacity to accelerate progress,” he says, “can ultimately pro- duce trillions in future value for society.” Below are just a few of the hundreds of medical scientists whose early careers received a boost from Milken and who have since made major contributions to their fields.

Milken’s support is advancing the work of many young medical researchers.

STEVEN ROSENBERG, M.D., Ph.D. ISLA GARRAWAY, M.D., Ph.D. PADMANEE SHARMA, M.D., Ph.D. CHARLES SAWYERS, M.D. Immunologist and Chief, Sur- Research scientist, Immunologist, University of Chair, Human Oncol- gery Branch, National Cancer Jonsson Comprehensive Texas MD Anderson Cancer ogy and Pathogenesis Institute Center for Cancer Cancer Center, UCLA Center Program, Memorial Research Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

LORELEI MUCCI, M.PH, Sc.D. CHRISTOPHER LOGOTHETIS, M.D. ARUL CHINNAIYAN, M.D., Ph.D. Epidemiologist, Harvard Chair in Genitourinary Medical Director, Michigan Center T.H. Chan School of Public Oncology, University of Texas for Translational Pathology, Health MD Anderson Cancer Center University of Michigan

56 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2017 COVER PROFILE  MICHAEL MILKEN

Transfer skills, not just money: “Each one of 7.us has skills that can be shared. The impact of financial giving can be magnified by trans- ferring management or technology skills.”

The Giving Pledge, founded by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates, requires members to give the majority of their wealth to philanthropy within their lifetimes. In their commitment letter at the time they joined, Milken and Lori wrote words that are familiar to all those philanthropists whom Milken has mentored over the years: “The kind of world in which our children and grandchildren reach their potential depends on the success of our efforts to provide opportunities for all children.” Heading into his eighth decade, Milken continues to travel the world, speaking with an evangelical fervor to diverse groups about his unique perspectives on the challenges of the 21st century. His packed calendar of meetings seven days a week ranges from global leaders, government agency officials, and Nobel Prize winners to kindergarten teachers and high school seniors. It’s all part of his insatiable quest to learn, to question, to challenge, to mentor, and most importantly, to make an impact. Nearly a quarter century has passed since Milken was told he had little time left to live. He’s acutely aware of his good fortune. Whereas he once wondered if he’d see his children grow up, he’s now seen all three marry and have kids of their own. At a recent fundraiser for medical research, he told the 800 attendees, “I feel like the luckiest guy in the room tonight, just to be able to join you.” PHOTO BY SCOTT WITTER PHOTOGRAPHY WITTER SCOTT BY PHOTO

PRE-SPRING 2017 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 57