I recently finished reading The Wolf of Wall Street which is a memoir by Jordan Belfort, a well known Wall Street stock market broker who had become a millionaire at age 26 and a convicted felon at 36. How exactly did this all happen? For starters, Belfort had rose from an entry level apprentice at a brokerage house in just six years to the founder of his own investment firm. He had worked at his own firm in
Stratton Oakmont (SO) Long Island and hired stock market brokers that would sell people cheap stocks over the phone. Belfort would then purchase large quantities of these cheap stocks and increase the price and then lose it. While Belfort was becoming richer by the minute, his customers lost tons of money. In fact, he had spent over millions of dollars worth on his corporate credit card by overloading on cocktails of drugs, prostitutes, and partying. He goes into detail about all his expensive a and luxurious life leading him to his arrest. There were numerous details of his purchases and in one case, he brought a silk bedspread that costed $12,000. Who would spend that much on something only you would see? Apparently Jordan Belfort was not shy at all describing countless acts of corruption and self destructiveness throughout his career.
His partner Donny Azoff he, led him start the brokerage firm at Strafird-Oakmont. As their company grew from 20 staff to 250, their status grew remarkably in their community and Wall Street gained more money. Companies filed their initial public offerings through them after hereing of their rise in popularity among the community and Wall Street. The amount of substance abuse and lies grew exponentially as their status did so. They had officially hit the jackpot on high trades and as attention grew closer, so did the FBI. Jordan Belfort ended up on the cover of Forbes Magazine, being called "The Wolf of Wall Street". Would you agree with the actions Belfort made, not only risking your career but the lives of others. With the FBI tracking Belfort on his trading schemes, he devises news techniques to cover his mistakes and continue to receive money. He comes up with the idea to stash his cash in a European bank. How long will Belfort and Azoff be able to hide this tremendous plot from the FBI and still grow in wealth? The answer Belfort describes in the book is surprisingly worth reading.
