Who is Jordan Belfort?
Jordan Belfort became a millionaire after founding a brokerage firm called ‘Stratton Oakmont’. This firm prioritized salesmanship and market-making and consequently engaged in questionable practices, including pump and dump schemes during the 1990s.
He eventually served 22 months in prison for securities fraud, money laundering, and stock manipulation before publishing his memoirs titled “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
The book is based on Belfort’s experiences working at Stratton Oakmont from 1987 to 1990, according to the book’s official publisher. He describes a company that specialized in high-pressure sales, borrowing money on shaky collateral, and engaging in pump-and-dump schemes. It was also a company that was run by its brokers rather than the typical Wall Street executive.
A representative for Belfort was quoted saying “Belfort is not confirming any specific stories and he is not going to respond to emails”
Wolf of Wall Street movie
Leonardo Di Caprio plays the main character, Jordan Belfort in the movie ‘The Wolf of Wall Street which is based on Belfort’s book of the same name. The late actor, Robin Williams, portrays Belfort’s father. Other actors include Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, and Kyle Chandler. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was first released on December 25, 2013, in Australia.
The film grossed $392 million worldwide. The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 71% approval rating based on reviews from 296 critics with an average score of 6.9 out of 10, the consensus being: “The Wolf of Wall Street has serious flaws, but thanks to Scorsese’s tour-de-force direction and DiCaprio’s devoted lead performance, it’s still entertaining.” Metacritic gives the film a score of 64 out of 100 based on 47 critics indicating “generally favorable reviews”.
Some of the criticisms that The Wolf of Wall Street has received include that it is “misleading and irresponsible” and “exploitative.” It has also been said to be overly long, but many critics have agreed upon Scorsese’s direction as a highlight in the film.
Critics found The Wolf of Wall Street to be consistently entertaining, maddening, and thrilling. Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars.
Jordan Belfort and the “Wolf of Wall Street”
The main character, Jordan Belfort was well-known for his domineering personality. In fact, he was known for being a hater of women. He had relationships with various women including Naomi Lapaglia (who is Nadine Caridi in real life) whom he met on the set of The Wise Guys with his partner Donnie Azoff. In another interview, it is said that in order to raise money, he slept with his secretary’s wife.
In 1997, he was arrested and charged with securities and wire fraud on charges of money laundering. He pleaded guilty in 1998 to securities fraud and money laundering, saying that he would serve 22 months in prison. He was released after spending eight months in prison.
He later published his autobiography called “The Wolf of Wall Street”. In the book Belfort described his experiences working at Stratton Oakmont from 1987 to 1990, according to the book’s official publisher. He described a company that specialized in high-pressure sales, borrowing money on shaky collateral, and engaging in pump-and-dump schemes.
It is also a company that was run by its brokers rather than the typical Wall Street executive. Belfort worked in the boiler room alongside Danny Porush and Donnie Azoff. He continued to have dealings with them even after he left Stratton Oakmont. They were later indicted for selling unregistered securities in 1999.
