Mike Milken

Biographical Details
Mike Milken' s "career has mirrored his three main professional passions: medical research, education and finance. In each, he has been uniquely successful in creating value whether measured in saved lives (Fortune magazine called him "The Man Who Changed Medicine"), inspired students or job creation. Between 1969 and 1989, he financed more than 3,200 companies that created millions of jobs. His philanthropy began in the 1970s and paralleled his business career. In 1982, he co-founded the Milken Family Foundation. He also heads FasterCures, a Washington-based think tank that works to remove barriers to progress against all life-threatening diseases. He is chairman of the Milken Institute, which conducts economic research; and the Prostate Cancer Foundation. He and his wife, Lori, have three children and two grandchildren and will celebrate their 40th anniversary this year." 

The Taste for Living Cookbook, which Milken co-authored with chef Beth Ginsberg.

"Following his diagnosis, Milken and his wife Lori began researching aspects of holistic medicine. Their inquiries took them to the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts. This Berkshire Mountains facility treats people with therapies sourced from India’s three thousand year-old healing tradition of Ayurveda... Here, the Milkens experienced Ayurvedic “herbal cures and relaxation,” he writes in The Taste for Living Cookbook,” co-authored with his personal and corporate chef, Beth Ginsberg. According to the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), Ayurveda is defined as a “whole medical system.” The NIH defines a whole medical system as “a complete system of theory and practice that has evolved over time in different cultures and apart from conventional medicine.” ...

"Intrigued by their initial experience of Ayurvedic healing, the Milkens arranged for a doctor trained in Western and Ayurvedic medicine to move into their home for a few months. “Early in the morning and late at night,” Milken recounts in Geoffrey E. Moore’s book, A Call to Action, he worked on “breathing techniques, herbal therapy, meditation and yoga.” The Milkens also learned how massage can activate the body’s T-cells, which fight cancer, and that aromatherapy can energize the immune system. In addition to traveling to China to meet with what Milken calls “chi” doctors, he met with integrative physicians such as Deepak Chopra, MD. “I felt it was important to connect the mind with the body,” he notes in A Call to Action." 

Affiliations

 * Cofounder, Milken Family Foundation
 * Co-Founder and Chairman, Knowledge Universe
 * Director, Global Scholar
 * Director, Vistage International
 * Founder, FasterCures

Criticism

 * Kenneth J. Saltman, "Michael Milken and the Corporate Raid on Education", electronicbookreview, 2003.