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Jordan Belfort

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Jordan Belfort
Born (1962-07-09) July 9, 1962 (age 62)[2]
The Bronx, New York, U.S.[2]
Alma materAmerican University (B.Sc.)
Occupation(s)Author
entrepreneur
motivational speaker
Criminal statusReleased April 2006 after 22 months[1][4]
Spouse(s)Denise (divorced)[2]
Nadine Caridi (1991–1998) (divorced; 2 children)[1]
Conviction(s)Securities fraud, money laundering[1]
Criminal penalty4 years in federal prison, $110 million in restitution [1]
WebsiteJordanBelfort.com

Jordan R. Belfort[5] (/ˈbɛlfɔːrt/; born July 9, 1962) is an American 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.[6]

Early life

Belfort was born in the Bronx to Leah and Max Belfort, who were accountants; his mother later became a lawyer.[1][7][8][3] Jordan was raised in a Jewish home in Bayside, Queens and remains Jewish.[3] He graduated from American University with a degree in biology.[9][3]

Career

Belfort started his career as a broker at L.F. Rothschild.[10]

Stratton Oakmont fraud and conviction

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.[11] During his years as a stock swindler, Belfort developed a hard-partying lifestyle, which included a serious drug addiction to Quaaludes.[1][12] Stratton Oakmont employed over 1,000 stock brokers and was involved in stock issues totaling more than $1 billion, including an equity raising for footwear 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[13] 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.[14]

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.[15] 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.[16]

Restitution

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.[17]

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.[18]

Writing

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.[6] 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.[19] The movie was released on December 25th, 2013.[20] 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).[21] He has toured internationally as a motivational speaker.[6]

Personal life

Belfort was the final owner of the luxury yacht Nadine (renamed after his second wife, an English-born model) originally built for Coco Chanel. In June 1996, it sank off the east coast of Sardinia. Italian COMSUBIN frogmen 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.[22][23][24]

As of 2013, Belfort was residing in Manhattan Beach, California, and was engaged.[16]

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b c Gambotto-Burke, Antonella (2008-01-15). "The wicked wolf of Wall Street". MailOnline. Retrieved 2013-07-06.
  3. ^ a b c d Gray, Geoffrey (December 30, 2013). "Meet Jordan Belfort, the Real Wolf of Wall Street". Vulture. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  4. ^ "Federal Bureau of Prisons". Bop.gov. 2006-04-28. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  5. ^ 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. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b c "Wolf of Wall Street back on the prowl: Jordan Belfort". Theaustralian.news.com.au. 2012-09-28. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  7. ^ Catching the Wolf of Wall Street: More Incredible True Stories of Fortunes ... - Jordan Belfort. Books.google.ca. 2009-02-24. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  8. ^ Vince Veneziani (2010-03-25). "Revisiting The Amazing Story Of Jordan Belfort: "The Wolf Of Wall Street"". Business Insider. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  9. ^ Solomon, Brian (December 28, 2013). "Meet The Real 'Wolf Of Wall Street' In Forbes' Original Takedown Of Jordan Belfort". Forbes. Retrieved January 1, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Straney, Louis L. (2010). Securities Fraud: Detection, Prevention, and Control. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley. p. 133. ISBN 9780470601570. OCLC 696918833. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  11. ^ Gasparino, Charlie. "'Wolf of Wall Street' Gets $1M Pay Day for Movie Rights". Fox Business. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  12. ^ Jane Wells (2007-10-03). "Who's Jordan Belfort? I'll Tell You Exactly Who He Is". Cnbc.com. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  13. ^ "The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort - Book - eBook - Audiobook". Random House. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  14. ^ 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.
  15. ^ "Jordan Belfort - Interview from Sunday Profile". Abc.net.au. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  16. ^ a b Gray, Geoffrey (November 24, 2013). "The Wolf of Wall Street Can't Sleep". New York: 64–69. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Kolhatkar, Sheelah (November 7, 2013). "Jordan Belfort, the Real Wolf of Wall Street". Businessweek.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  19. ^ Fleming, Mike (April 19, 2012). "TOLDJA! Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio Commit To 'The Wolf Of Wall Street'". Deadline.com. PMC. Retrieved August 11, 2012.
  20. ^ 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.
  21. ^ Dockterman, Eliana (December 26, 2013). "The Wolf of Wall Street: The True Story". Time.com. Retrieved January 14, 2014.
  22. ^ Kenny, Kenny (1997). "The Longest Night". Yachting. 181 (5). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  23. ^ "Motor Yacht Nadine". Yachtandcrew.com. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2013-06-23.
  24. ^ Belfort, Jordan (2007). The Wolf of Wall Street. Random House. pp. 406–409. ISBN 978-0-553-80546-8.

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