Apollo
1980s

The Junk Bond Machine

Before Apollo existed, its founders were inside Drexel Burnham Lambert, the firm that powered the 1980s leveraged buyout boom. Junk bonds changed Wall Street. Then the machine exploded.

Crowded Wall Street trading floor during the junk bond era
$1T+AUM, Mar. 2026
$APONYSE listed
4,130Employees
Banks retreat. Apollo fills the gap: from distressed debt and control investing to private credit, insurance capital, and large-scale financing.