Jordan Belfort Biography

Jordan Belfort, the real man behind the academy award nominated film The Wolf of Wall Street. Was he a financial genius, a scam-artist, or even a blend of both? From middle-class obscurity, Belfort rose to the top of Wall Street at an incredible rate, faster than anyone had ever done before. But his rise up the financial ladder didn’t come cheaply. Two failed marriages, crippling drug addiction, and even a nearly fatal helicopter crash were just a few things his lifestyle cost him. His brokerage house, Stratton Oakmont, was a worldwide symbol of wealth and success. At the pinnacle of it all, Stratton Oakmont was essentially a money printing factory. Everybody involved was rich with Belfort and his right-hand man, Danny Porush, at the helm.
His parents, Max and Leah Belfort, quickly moved the family out of the Bronx and raised him in Bayside Queens. Both of his parents were accountants, and firmly stuck in the middle class. After doing pretty well in high school, he decided to continue his academic career at American University, after dropping out University of Maryland’s School of Dentistry. On his first day at Maryland he decided to drop out after the a conversation in which the Dean of the university told him that there was no money in dentistry, and if that was all he sought he was in the wrong place. At American, Belfort majored and eventually got a degree in biology. Despite getting his degree in biology, he showed early potential of being a successful businessman. In between graduating high school and enrolling in college Belfort and his childhood friend Elliot Loewenstern earned $20,000 selling Italian ice from styrofoam coolers to people at his local beach (Jordan Belfort, 2014). Upon graduating from college Belfort he entered the meat selling business, going door-to-door in the Long Island area of New York. At first, the business was a great success, he was selling nearly 2,300 kilograms of fish and meat per week! But the original success wouldn’t last forever, and the business ultimately failed, causing him to file for bankruptcy at the
Throughout their time together in prison Chong repeatedly told Belfort that he needed to write down his life in the form of an autobiography, and he did, writing The Wolf of Wall Street and Catching the Wolf of Wall Street. Both of these books went on to be international bestsellers, with the former even earning itself a film adaptation directed by Martin Scorseses and starring Leonardo Di Caprio. The film and books went on to make an incredible amount of profit, but Belfort would only see 50% of his share, as he was court ordered to pay half of all of his future earning in restitution until his debt was payed off (Jordan Belfort,