Jordan Belfort

Jordan Belfort was born in 1962 in The Bronx, New York City, to Maxwell and Leah Belfort, both accountants. He grew up in Bayside, Queens, and graduated from American University with a degree in biology. Early in his career, he operated a door-to-door meat and seafood business on Long Island, which he claims initially thrived, employing several individuals and selling thousands of pounds of product weekly before eventually failing, leading to his bankruptcy at 25. Following this, he secured a trainee stockbroker position at L.F. Rothschild, but was laid off in 1987 after the firm faced difficulties during the Black Monday stock market crash.

In 1989, Belfort established Stratton Oakmont, a brokerage firm that eventually became one of the largest over-the-counter firms in the United States. The firm primarily dealt in penny stocks and engaged in “pump and dump” schemes, defrauding investors through stock manipulation. During its peak, Stratton Oakmont employed over 1,000 stockbrokers and was involved in stock issues exceeding $1 billion, notably including the initial public offering for footwear company Steve Madden. The firm also attracted significant scrutiny from regulatory bodies like the National Association of Securities Dealers (now FINRA).

In December 1996, the NASD expelled Stratton Oakmont, effectively shutting down its operations. Belfort was subsequently indicted in 1999 for securities fraud and money laundering. He cooperated with federal authorities, serving 22 months of a four-year prison sentence at Taft Correctional Institution. While incarcerated, he was encouraged by cellmate Tommy Chong to write about his experiences, leading to his memoirs, “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2007) and “Catching the Wolf of Wall Street” (2009). These books were later adapted into the critically acclaimed 2013 film, “The Wolf of Wall Street,” directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort. Since his release, Belfort has become a public speaker, authoring additional books such as “Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling” (2017) and “The Wolf of Investing” (2023), and conducting seminars on sales and business ethics.