Molson Hart

Sometimes I wonder who the Mike Milkens of the i-banking world are now, if any even exist...not the criminal part, but the smart,networked,creative person that takes unknown people with no/small balance sheets and great vision & ideas and provides the advice & capital to execute

I'm not curious for my own sake or needs, but I don't hear the kinds of stories like Ron Perelman, Craig McCaw, Ted Turner, all of whom bought or grew enormous companies w/ Milken's help. The market is different now, but are there still bankers that bet on the 'little guy'? Who?

Have they been replaced by the search fund backers and lbo funds?

I don't think so. Totally different scale of ambition and capital.

I'm not sure the environment is as conducive to those stories today as it was then. This type of rags to riches story has mostly migrated to software/tech companies.

I think both points are true. But, I imagine that with all of the bankers out there, someone must be doing something similar, even if on a smaller scale -- a person with tremendous creativity, a golden Rolodex, and a perspective on opportunities that adds tremendous value.