# Wolf of Wall Street - Jordan Belfort



## DB008 (12 February 2008)

Just picked a copy of this book. Gee wizz, what can l say, he went all the way. Fraud to the max, around the $250 million mark. Makes me think what other stock companies are upto now days. (ie, Tricom is in the headlines at the moment)

Anyone else had the chance to read it?

Here are a few links.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/45912-the-wolf-of-wall-street-not-so-hilarious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SrlWsGITB0

Got this to add
"The Meteoric Rise and Fall of an American Entrepreneurial Icon...the shocking true story of Wall Street trader, Jordan Belfort. By day, he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night, he spent it as fast as he could on drugs, sex and travel. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht, crashed a Gulfstream jet, and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab; to the wife and kids who waited for him at home; and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding; here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called... THE WOLF OF WALL STREET In the 1990s Jordan Belfort became one of the most infamous names in American finance: a brilliant, conniving stock-chopper who led his merry mob on a wild ride out of the canyons of Wall Street and into a massive office on Long Island. Now, in this astounding and hilarious tell-all autobiography, Belfort narrates a story of greed, power, and excess no one could invent - the extraordinary story of an ordinary guy who went from hustling Italian ices at sixteen to making hundreds of millions. Until it all came crashing down..."


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## noirua (12 February 2008)

I would not do him a favour by buying the book.  Quite a number of people were reported to have committed suicide and attempted suicide, due to the activities of this evil man.


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## prawn_86 (12 February 2008)

noirua said:


> I would not do him a favour by buying the book.




Thats a bit harsh isnt it N?

Everyone has their story to tell, and there are plenty of other autobiographies out there by mobsters and other sorts of criminals


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## dalek (12 February 2008)

prawn_86 said:


> Thats a bit harsh isnt it N?
> 
> Everyone has their story to tell, and there are plenty of other autobiographies out there by mobsters and other sorts of criminals




Yep there are, and they deserve the same or worse.


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## explod (12 February 2008)

noirua said:


> I would not do him a favour by buying the book.  Quite a number of people were reported to have committed suicide and attempted suicide, due to the activities of this evil man.




No one gets into bed with the devil if they can help it.  Protection however is in knowing all about him and how he operates.

My exerience with such types (not on this scale of course) is that they get caught up in the excitement initially and once down the track a bit, reality, right and wrong, and which way is up becomes blurred.   In writing a book I would say he is realising his error.   Only a guess at this stage so will prabably get hold of the book.


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## Mumbank (12 February 2008)

I'm reading it at the moment and find it intriguing. I'm not sure how much of it is fact and how much is fantasy but it is supposed to be a true story with some names changed.

While what he has done is astounding I doubt that he is the only one who has managed to do this and the largesse involved just blew me away.

I'm thinking this is just one of the reasons I don't trust brokers and prefer to do my own research.  

Another good read and eye opener was the Court in the Middle, the story of Andrew Fraser, whose "fast" life came to a crashing halt.  It was not well written  but it was an interesting story.


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## sam76 (12 February 2008)

I heard this bloke being interviewed on the ABC RADIo the other week.

He seemed to be quite proud of his actions.


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## brettc4 (12 February 2008)

Yes I read this book a few weeks ago.
I enjoyed his style of writing and although I do not condone his actions, or the fact he is making money out of his illegal activities, it is an interesting story non the less and one you most likely would not get from a biography.

Some of the things that blew me away was simply how much money he had to spend, the amount of drugs he was able to consume, and the simple fact he isn't dead yet.

He was obviously a reasonably smart person and was able to find a number of legal although unethical ways to get around certain issues, but then way to greedy and his actions becoming completely illegal.

But I think the bigeest thing I got out of this book, is just how close to the edge and how out of control the american securities market is.  I think we continue to see this with their banking sector at the moment. They blame sub prime, but I believe their will be a few out there at least whose actions, while making them money, has adversly affected others.  My 

Brett


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## benn (4 August 2008)

i saw this is at airport bookstore on the weekend. i might try and grab a copy from the library. 

also chugging along reading market wizards and new market wizards. not bad.

i have reminisces of a stock trader on my to read list also.  if theres any other good share market story book ones out there let me know.


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## nizar (4 August 2008)

This ones on my list.
Thanks for the heads up, i love a good story.


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## BentRod (4 August 2008)

Yes, love books like this too.

Thanks Dannyboy.


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## BentRod (4 August 2008)

Apparently the movie "Boiler Room" was loosely based on this book. One of the producers worked at the firm with Belfort.

@Benn...Those four books (Wizards & ROASO)are some of the best ever written on Trading mate.


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## wildkactus (5 August 2008)

i will have to place this on my to read list.
I like these books, it gives you a view of the financial world that you hear about but sometimes don't get enough of the inside storey.

It's all part of the education, to read just the nice do good, Happy ending books only gives you half the picture.

there are some other good books by Ben Mezrich, which are also worth the read.
 - Rigged, about oil trading, from wall street to dubai 
 - Bring Down the house, the MIT card counting team, now the movie 21


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## prawn_86 (16 April 2009)

I have yet to read the original, but i just read 'Catching the WOlf of Wall Street" which is about how the court case and such went down. Really good read, i thouroughly enjoyed it and will now also be buying the original.

I thinks its funny because with Maddoff et al we know that stuff on this scale happens, this guy just happened to get caught.


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## awg (16 April 2009)

my copy has disappeared via some mates.

entertaining read, although maybe some exageration.

although this guys story centres around price manipulation and drug use, there are a lot of parallels to Madoff....essentially these guys are extremely intelligent driven individuals who perpetuate massive fraud.

my copy was given to me as a xmas gift, and has been onread by several by now, so at least i am washed morally pure


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## investorpaul (16 April 2009)

It is one of the best books I have ever read. It really highlights how brokers dont give a stuff about their clients.

As Jordan boasts he would employ virtually anyone because all he needed to tell them to do was pick up the phone and sell stock, it didnt matter how you did it, you just had to sell sell and sell.


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## MRC & Co (16 April 2009)

I believe Jordan is coming out to Australia in the not so distant future.  

He is organising his trip at the moment (well in the very early stages such as looking at venues), but will probably be presenting at a few Universities etc if you wanted to catch it.  

And yes, the vast majority of stockbrokers couldn't trade their way out of a paper bag!


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## brettc4 (16 April 2009)

I saw that he has a new book but haven't had a chance to read it yet.

I also watched a movie a few months ago called 'Boiler Room' which some people think has some parallels to the first book.

It is basically about a brokerage house cold calling people and trying to sell stock, some knowing the company is worth nothing, others not, and using the lure of easy money to get people to invest.

Cheers,
Brett


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## 1080p (16 April 2009)

I'm reading it at the moment as well.  I also read somewhere it was being made into a film starring Leonardo Dicaprio.


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## prawn_86 (16 April 2009)

1080p said:


> I also read somewhere it was being made into a film starring Leonardo Dicaprio.




Yep, directed by Scorcese who is one of the best directors out there (Gangs of New York, The Departed, etc). Due out sometime in 2010 hopefully


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## 18yardsout (11 June 2009)

apparently hes coming to Aus...the website is his name dotcomdotau


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## MRC & Co (11 June 2009)

^^^^^^^^^^^



MRC & Co said:


> I believe Jordan is coming out to Australia in the not so distant future.
> 
> He is organising his trip at the moment (well in the very early stages such as looking at venues), but will probably be presenting at a few Universities etc if you wanted to catch it.




Yep, already said quite some time ago if you read the thread.


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## adobee (4 May 2010)

i picked this book up at the airport for a quick read.. i thought it was slightly entertaining but really on the whole a load of crap.. all he talks about is hookers and drugs .. wow.. anyone can have hookers and drugs.. a bit more depth on the scams and getting caught would be much more interesting..  not worth the read in my opinion .. boiler room is much more interesting as a move, whilst not indepth on the scams better illustration of sales techniques ..   

hoping the madoff book will be better ..


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## prawn_86 (4 May 2010)

The second book 'Catching The Wolf Of Wall St' goes into more details about the financial side of things, as it talks about the FBI investigations etc


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## Tatts (5 May 2010)

He is being interviewed on tripleM in melbourne this morning.


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## waza1960 (11 May 2013)

Jordon Belfort was on Ch7's Morning show today promoting the new movie or was it his promotional tour?

   He was fined $110 million dollars for his crimes and will have paid this off after handing over the proceeds of his books sales and movie rights.
  I'm not condoning his crimes in any way but is this the first time somebody has actually paid financially  in full for their crimes?


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## CanOz (11 May 2013)

waza1960 said:


> Jordon Belfort was on Ch7's Morning show today promoting the new movie or was it his promotional tour?
> 
> He was fined $110 million dollars for his crimes and will have paid this off after handing over the proceeds of his books sales and movie rights.
> I'm not condoning his crimes in any way but is this the first time somebody has actually paid financially  in full for their crimes?





I think this guy paid for his crimes as well...


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## DJG (11 May 2013)

When's the movie due out?


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## waza1960 (11 May 2013)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993846/ November this year.
  I think DiCaprio is good casting for the lead role


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## dubpluris (6 September 2013)

*Autographed Book Contest - Wolf of Wall Street - Jordan Belfort*

Just a heads up that if you have done Jordan's Straight Line System, he has a contest going on right now on Facebook to win an autographed copy of his book The Wolf of Wall Street! and it's ending soon!

Go to his page here https://www.facebook.com/jordanbelfort and enter either through the gold box on the top or the post pinned to the top of the page. Good luck everyone!


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## tech/a (6 September 2013)

Read Both books.
The Film evidently is pretty close to the truth.
Will certainly be there.


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## FIGJAM (30 January 2014)

watched the film. Was golden

Have the book to read as well, but there are a few other books in its way first


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## So_Cynical (24 May 2015)

Just finished the book after watching the movie a few months ago...enjoyed both.

Steve Madden and his shoe business gets a lot of attention in the book and he was a partner in crime with Belfort, interesting that Steve Madden shoes is still listed on the Nasdaq, has 100 stores, trades at $38.80 per share and has a Market cap of $ 2,464,430,988 - 2.5 billion right?

http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/shoo

I guess Madden is still a major holder, Wiki said that the company paid him 700K as a consultant after he was forced to resign as CEO and sent to prison....crime pays?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Madden

Capitalism really is king in America.


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## Mrmagoo (6 June 2015)

The guy was a filthy criminal who ruined lives. Even if he just stole from rich old men who probably didn't deserve the money he should have gotten life in prison for what he did. Never to be released. The way he flaunted his obvious law breaking means that if he had been around in any time after the GFC he would be in jail for life. That being said, surely his victims must take some of the blame. If you're so lazy and weak minded that you think you can get money for nothing then maybe you deserve to lose the lot.


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## luutzu (6 June 2015)

Mrmagoo said:


> The guy was a filthy criminal who ruined lives. Even if he just stole from rich old men who probably didn't deserve the money he should have gotten life in prison for what he did. Never to be released. The way he flaunted his obvious law breaking means that if he had been around in any time after the GFC he would be in jail for life. That being said, surely his victims must take some of the blame. If you're so lazy and weak minded that you think you can get money for nothing then maybe you deserve to lose the lot.




I watched Goodfellas, also by Scorsese, and found those mobsters to be more likable than this dude.

And no, only 1 guy was ever imprisoned for the GFC - and that's only because he confessed. The banks got bailed out and the CEOs got bonuses.


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## Mrmagoo (6 June 2015)

luutzu said:


> I watched Goodfellas, also by Scorsese, and found those mobsters to be more likable than this dude.
> 
> And no, only 1 guy was ever imprisoned for the GFC - and that's only because he confessed. The banks got bailed out and the CEOs got bonuses.




I ythought that since they GFC they had started coming down harder on white c ollar criminals ?


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## pixel (7 June 2015)

Mrmagoo said:


> I ythought that since they GFC they had started coming down harder on white c ollar criminals ?




Only on the little ones, like that dude in the UK, who has recently been in the news for allegedly "manipulating exchange rates" to his advantage.

The bigwigs on Wall Street are sitting more securely than ever in their chairs, creating ever more trading robots that manipulate entire markets. But that's okay because they're Americans and do it for the Good of the USofA.

Check how many members of Congress, Senate, and affiliated Lobbies were trained by Goldman-Sachs 

PS: I missed the movie, but read the book. Highly informative, but not surprising.


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## luutzu (7 June 2015)

Mrmagoo said:


> I ythought that since they GFC they had started coming down harder on white c ollar criminals ?




Like Pixel said, only if you're small. The big guys are not white collars, they're platinum or solid gold collar. They're the untouchables.

There's no political will, and even if there are at some level, there's not enough resources... And if a public regulator is too good at their job and too tenacious, they get lured away with a job offer that double or triple their public servant pay bracket. And those who can't be bought will be brought down - either through exposing their personal indiscretion or pressuring their bosses.


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