Jordan Ross Belfort (b.1962) is an American former stockbroker, motivational speaker, and author, known for his financial crimes and memoirs detailing his rise and fall on Wall Street. His life inspired the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Born in New York City, Belfort studied biology at American University before briefly enrolling in dental school at the University of Maryland, which he left to pursue finance. He entered the stock market in the late 1980s, founding Stratton Oakmont, a brokerage firm involved in securities fraud and money laundering. His firm manipulated penny stocks, leading to his 1999 conviction and a 22-month prison sentence.
Belfort wrote The Wolf of Wall Street (2007,) chronicling his extravagant lifestyle and financial schemes, followed by Catching the Wolf of Wall Street (2009,) detailing his legal troubles and transformation.
Despite his past, Belfort reinvented himself as a motivational speaker on sales, entrepreneurship, and financial success. His business book Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling (2017) covers sales techniques and persuasion strategies. His latest work, The Wolf of Investing (2023,) offers investment insights.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Jordan Belfort
Act as if you are already a tremendous success, and—as sure as I stand here today—you will become successful.
—Jordan Belfort
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