The Wolf of Wall Street

Speranza



Jordan Belfort

Born(1962-07-09) July 9, 1962
The Bronx, New York, U.S.[1]
OccupationAuthor
entrepreneur
motivational speaker
Criminal penalty 4 years in federal prison, $110 million in restitution [2]
Criminal status Released April 2006 after 22 months[2][3]
Spouse(s)Denise (divorced)[1]
Nadine Caridi (1991–1998) (divorced; 2 children)


Conviction(s)Securities fraud, money laundering[2]


Jordan R. Belfort (born July 9, 1962) is a motivational speaker and former stockbroker.

He was convicted of fraud crimes related to stock market manipulation and running a penny stock boiler room for which he spent 22 months in prison.


Belfort was born in the Bronx to Leah and Max Belfort, who were accountants.

His mother later became a lawyer.[2][6][7][8]

Belfort is Jewish and grew up in Bayside, Queens.[8]

He graduated from American University with a degree in biology.[10][8]

Belfort briefly attended the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery.

However, he left after the dean of the school said, "The golden age of dentistry is over. If you’re here simply because you’re looking to make a lot money, you’re in the wrong place."[11]

Belfort started his career as a broker at L.F. Rothschild.


In the 1990s, he founded the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont which functioned as a boiler room marketing penny stocks, where he defrauded investors with fraudulent stock sales.[13]

During his years as a stock swindler, Belfort developed a hard-partying life-style, which included a serious drug addiction to Quaaludes.[2][14]

Stratton Oakmont employed over 1,000 stock brokers and was involved in stock issues totaling more than $1 billion, including an equity raising for foot-wear company Steve Madden Ltd.

The notoriety of the firm, which was targeted by law enforcement officials in the late 1990s, inspired the 2000 film Boiler Room and the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.

Alabama Securities Commissioner Joseph Borg formed a multi-state task force that led to the prosecution of Stratton Oakmont after his office was inundated with complaints regarding the brokerage.

Belfort was indicted in 1998 for securities fraud and money laundering.

After cooperating with the FBI, he served 22 months in federal prison for a pump and dump scheme, which resulted in investor losses of approximately $200 million.

Belfort was ordered to pay back $110.4 million that he swindled from stock buyers.[17]

In prison he met Tommy Chong, who encouraged Belfort to write down his stories and subsequently publish them.

They remained friends after their release from prison.[18]

According to federal prosecutors, Belfort has failed to live up to the restitution requirement of his 2003 sentencing agreement.

The agreement requires him to pay 50% of his income towards restitution to the 1,513 clients he defrauded.

Of the $11.6 million that has been recovered by Belfort's victims, $10.4 million of the total is the result of the sale of forfeited properties.

The sentencing agreement mandates a total of $110 million in restitution.

In October 2013, federal prosecutors filed a complaint that Belfort, who had income of $1,767,209 from the publication of his two books and the sale of the movie rights, plus an additional $24,000 from motivational speaking since 2007, paid restitution of only $243,000 over the past four years.

The government is currently not holding Belfort in default of his payments in order to keep negotiations open, but it is unclear when the full amount of the mandated restitution will be repaid

Reportedly sober since 1998, Belfort wrote two memoirs, The Wolf of Wall Street and Catching the Wolf of Wall Street, which have been published in approximately 40 countries and translated into 18 languages.[5]

His life story was turned into a motion picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Margot Robbie, and directed by Martin Scorsese.

Filming began in August 2012.[21]

The movie was released on December 25th, 2013.[22]

Time Magazine reports that many of the apparently far-fetched escapades depicted in the movie are consistent with what he wrote in his memoirs and what was written about him in Forbes articles (some details relating to the Forbes articles have been embellished however).[23]

He has toured internationally as a motivational speaker.[5]


Belfort was the final owner of the luxury yacht "Nadine CARIDI" (renamed after his second wife, an English-born model) originally built for Coco Chanel.

In June 1996, the yacht sank off the east coast of Sardinia.

Italian COMSUBIN frog-men rescued all aboard the vessel.

Belfort said he insisted on sailing out in high winds against the advice of his captain, resulting in the vessel's sinking when waves smashed the foredeck hatch.

As of 2013, Belfort was residing in Manhattan Beach, California, and was engaged.

References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b c Gambotto-Burke, Antonella (2008-01-15). "The wicked wolf of Wall Street". MailOnline. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Tom Leonard (2008-02-25). "Jordan Belfort: Confessions of the Wolf of Wall Street". Telegraph. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Jump up ^ "Federal Bureau of Prisons". Bop.gov. 2006-04-28. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
Jump up ^ Eaton, Leslie (April 18, 1999). "Beaches, Billy Joel and, Oddly, Swindles; The Island Has Become Home to Stock Scams, But Regulators Are Cracking Down". The New York Times. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Wolf of Wall Street back on the prowl: Jordan Belfort". Theaustralian.news.com.au. 2012-09-28. Archived from the original on 2012-12-15. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
Jump up ^ Catching the Wolf of Wall Street: More Incredible True Stories of Fortunes ... - Jordan Belfort. Books.google.ca. 2009-02-24. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
Jump up ^ Vince Veneziani (2010-03-25). "Revisiting The Amazing Story Of Jordan Belfort: "The Wolf Of Wall Street"". Business Insider. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
^ Jump up to: a b c Gray, Geoffrey (December 30, 2013). "Meet Jordan Belfort, the Real Wolf of Wall Street". Vulture. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
Jump up ^ Belfort, Jordan (25 September 2007). The Wolf of Wall Street. Random House Publishing Group. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-553-90424-6.
Jump up ^ Solomon, Brian (December 28, 2013). "Meet The Real 'Wolf Of Wall Street' In Forbes' Original Takedown Of Jordan Belfort". Forbes. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
Jump up ^ Kumar, Nikhil (December 20, 2013). "Jordan Belfort: The real Wolf of Wall Street". The Independent. Retrieved January 22, 2014.
Jump up ^ Straney, Louis L. (2010). Securities Fraud: Detection, Prevention, and Control. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. p. 133. ISBN 9780470601570. OCLC 696918833. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
Jump up ^ Gasparino, Charlie. "'Wolf of Wall Street' Gets $1M Pay Day for Movie Rights". Fox Business. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
Jump up ^ Jane Wells (2007-10-03). "Who's Jordan Belfort? I'll Tell You Exactly Who He Is". Cnbc.com. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
Jump up ^ "The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort - Book - eBook - Audiobook". Random House. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
Jump up ^ Hubbard, Russell (March 21, 2010). "Joe Borg, Alabama Securities Commission boss, has reputation of being tough on crooks". The Birmingham News. Retrieved January 25, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Jordan Belfort - Interview from Sunday Profile". Abc.net.au. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
^ Jump up to: a b Gray, Geoffrey (November 24, 2013). "The Wolf of Wall Street Can't Sleep". New York: 64–69. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
Jump up ^ Dillon, Nancy (19 October 2013). "Real 'Wolf of Wall Street' Jordan Belfort still owes millions to victims: prosecutors". N.Y. Daily News. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
Jump up ^ Kolhatkar, Sheelah (November 7, 2013). "Jordan Belfort, the Real Wolf of Wall Street". Businessweek.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
Jump up ^ Fleming, Mike (April 19, 2012). "TOLDJA! Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio Commit To 'The Wolf Of Wall Street'". Deadline.com. PMC. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
Jump up ^ Rich, Katey (January 7, 2014). "Wolf of Wall Street Editor Thelma Schoonmaker Says Leonardo DiCaprio "Will Do Anything for Marty"". Vanity Fair (Condé Nast). Retrieved January 14, 2014.
Jump up ^ Dockterman, Eliana (December 26, 2013). "The Wolf of Wall Street: The True Story". Time.com. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
Jump up ^ Wooton, Kenny (May 1997). "The Longest Night". Yachting 181 (5): 54. ISSN 0043-9940.
Jump up ^ "Motor Yacht Nadine". Yachtandcrew.com. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
Jump up ^ Belfort, Jordan (2007). The Wolf of Wall Street. Random House. pp. 406–409. ISBN 978-0-553-80546-8.
External links[edit]
Official website
Works by or about Jordan Belfort in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
Jordan Belfort at the Internet Movie Database
Authority controlWorldCat
VIAF: 68378818
LCCN: n2007026341
ISNI: 0000 0000 5559 1558
GND: 136432522
BNF: cb16070860h


Persondata
NameBelfort, Jordan
Alternative names
Short descriptionWhite-collar criminal
Motivational speaker
Founder of Stratton Oakmont brokerage house
Date of birthJuly 6, 1962
Place of birthQueens, New York, United States
Date of death
Place of death

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Categories:
1962 births
Living people
20th-century American criminals
American Jews
American memoirists
American money launderers
American motivational speakers
American people convicted of fraud
American stockbrokers
American University alumni
Businesspeople from New York City
People from Queens, New York
People from the Bronx
Writers from New York City