Agreed... it's just a common misconception what insider-trading really encompasses and that you can actually go to jail for it.
Of course, but that does not mean that Milken was an angel that never did anything wrong. He was simply not part of the clique, more of a rogue who got at the level and even above the big boys but never really a part of the group. It's the same when SEC goes after small timers who try to do what the big boys do and get busted for insider trading. Plus. Milken was getting too big and going too far, had he kept it at a certain level, they would have let him slide. His involvement with Boesky was enough to incriminate himself. BTW, Mike085 thanks for the correction, I thought I had that wrong, just wasnt sure. P.S. There is no reason to glorify Milken or any of his "b*tches". Just another round of greedy pigs, some much smarter than others, but in the end, just greedy scum that caused little good but a lot of bad.
Michael Milken was an innovator who when general circumstances soured was used as a scapegoat. The low character in the melodrama of that time was Boesky who dumped on everything and everyone. Boesky also set off the big Guinness scandal in Ldn which ended up with scapegoats there going to prison for conduct that had been scrutinized and sanctioned by lawyers and accountants beforehand. The lesson is that in high places in business you need to be ever careful not to leave behind any trail or circumstance which can be used to scapegoat you subsequently.