Discover how Jordan Belfort stole $200m from his victims.
The Wolf of Wall Street Summary
In the Wolf of Wall Street, a true story is told about a man named Jordan Belfort. When Belfort was 22 years old, he began working on Wall Street, but his first day happened to be on Black Monday.
On October 19, 1987, stocks tanked hard, and this caused Belfort to lose his new job. As a result, he decided with his wife Teresa that they would pawn her engagement ring until he found a new job.
Belfort Discovers Penny Stock Commissions
Belfort found a job opportunity in the newspaper and showed up at the financial firm in a suit, only to discover that it is a small establishment with unprofessional-looking brokers. A man named Dwayne greeted Belfort and told him that the brokers get 50% commissions on pink sheet stock sales.
Belfort flawlessly pitches a company run out of a garage to an investor claiming it is a great company and hyping it up to push the sale. He secures the deal and begins to make a lot of money selling people sketchy pink sheet companies purely for the commissions.
Additionally, Belfort owned shares of stock in some of the companies he was shilling to his victims. Therefore, after many of his victims invested, he would sell his shares, causing the stock price to drop.
Belfort Sets up a New Business
Soon after Jordan began making big money selling penny stocks, he decided to open up a new business with his new buddy Donnie. He also recruited friends and set up a boiler room in an abandoned auto garage.
A boiler room is a call center where salesmen call investors and attempt to sell sketchy investments like pink sheet stocks. The business starts raking in cash, and brokers from all around are begging to get hired at the company.
The FBI Gets Suspicious
Belfort’s firm gains lots of publicity, and Forbes Magazine refers to him as “the Wolf of Wall Street.” Belfort didn’t like it at first, but he says there is no such thing as bad publicity since more brokers continue to flock to his office.
Success and Partying Ensue
Jordan brings his father to the company, who constantly berates the brokers and Jordan for their terrible spending habits. For example, they spent $26,000 on dinner one night and consistently have prostitutes in the office.
Jordan throws a party at one of his houses on Long Island, where he meets a woman named Naomi. He takes her to dinner one night, and she invites him over, where he ends up cheating on his wife. Eventually, Belfort’s wife Teresa finds out, and they soon get divorced.
Taking Steve Madden Stock Public
A ladies shoe designer, Steve Madden, meets with Belfort’s company because they want his company to take them public. Then, Jordan gives a speech to the entire office about becoming rich to inspire his brokers.
The stock IPOs in the trading room and Belfort’s company Stratton Oakmont generated $22 million in just a few hours from the IPO.
Belfort’s Bad Trip With Quaaludes
One day, Donnie shows up at Belfort’s house with a brand of quaaludes called Lemmon 714, a rare and strong version of the drug. They take the pills, but they do not feel anything. Then, Belfort gets a call from Bo Dietl, who tells Belfort to leave his house and call him on a pay phone.
Dietl tells Jordan that his phones are tapped, and at this moment, he starts to feel the effects of the quaaludes. He collapses to the floor and stumbles to his Lambo, which he drives home and hits multiple cars on the way there.
The following day, Jordan wakes up with the police in his house, and they arrest him. However, he is released since the cops had no evidence that he had driven his car.
Belfort Gets Ratted On
To avoid taxes, Belfort smuggles some of his money to Switzerland but is eventually ratted out by the Swiss banker he was working with, Jean Jacques Sorel. Members of Belfort’s company are called in for testimony as well, but none of them give anybody up to save themselves.
A few Department of Justice lawyers try to make a deal with Belfort where he wears a wire to incriminate his partners. However, Belfort slipped a note to Donnie telling him about the wire, so he acts like he doesn’t remember anything when he asks about their past.
Eventually, the FBI arrives at Belfort’s house after learning about the note he slipped to Donnie. Belfort is sentenced to 36 months in prison for his financial crimes. To this day, Belfort has still not paid back even half of the financial losses he caused.
Is Jordan Belfort Still in Debt?
During Jordan Belfort’s sentencing in 2003, he was ordered to pay over $110m in restitution and other penalties. However, Belfort still owes around $100m.
Jordan Belfort’s Books
Jordan Belfort has written a couple of books, one of which is called The Wolf of Wall Street, on which the movie is based. While this book is based on actual events, you must remember that a fraudster wrote it. Therefore, Jordan Belfort could have easily stretched the truth about the events of his life.
Jordan Belfort published another book called Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling: Master the Art of Persuasion, Influence, and Success. So if you want to learn how to become a better salesman, it’s probably not the worst idea to learn from a guy who sold people worthless companies.
Jordan Belfort’s books tell exciting stories, but he gets too much praise for being a conman. Of course, most people would be scrutinized for stealing millions of dollars, but somehow Jordan Belfort has a loyal following who watches his podcast and reads his books.
Jordan Belfort’s Kids
Jordan Belfort has two kids named Carter and Chandler. His daughter Chandler Winter is a mental health counselor with her own business called Chandler Winter Counseling. She was born in June of 1993 and is married to Connor Winter.
Jordan Belfort’s son Carter Belfort is the vice president of brand development at his dad’s business Jordan Belfort Inc. Carter Belfort is also a hip hop artist and raps under the name the drunken poet.
The Wolf of Wall Street Summary: Bottom Line
The Wolf of Wall Street summary is that Jordan Belfort stole millions of dollars from his customers and partied hard with his team with the earnings. He served a few years in prison and still has not repaid all the money he stole from people.
Additionally, he uses the fame he received from his scandals to promote his new podcast called The Wolf’s Den.
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