Jordan Belfort was the king of pump-and-dumps during the 1990's, presiding over Stratton Oakmont, a real life version of Boiler Room's J.T. Marlin. He was earning millions of dollars each month, doing enormous quantities of cocaine and a drug called Quaaludes, and sleeping with dozens of prostitutes, in spite of his marriage to a beautiful and wonderful lady he calls the Duchess of Bay Ridge.Eventually the Feds caught up with him, and Belfort was indicted on charges including securities fraud and money laundering. He managed to serve just 22 months in a federal prison camp after serving as a government witness. Now out of jail, Belfort has written a book about his reign at the top: The Wolf of Wall Street: Stock Market Multimillionaire at 26, Federal Convict at 36, I Partied Like a Rock Star, Lived like a King, and Barely Survived My Rise and Fall as an American Entrepreneurial Icon.
And what a reign it was. Belfort's 519-page memoir contains a seemingly infinite series of tales about drug abuse, trips to Switzerland to launder money, lurid scenes with prostitutes, and other narcotics-fueled debauchery. We get all the vivid details, including Belfort's references to his large penis -- The value The Wolf of Wall Street does have may actually be more pornographic than anything.
But students of white collar crime will be sorely disappointed by what Belfort doesn't provide: after a very brief prologue, the book begins at the top of his career, so we miss out on the story of how he built Stratton Oakmont into such a powerhouse. We don't really get the details of the stock manipulation schemes, with the exception of the interesting sub-plot involving Steve Madden, Ltd. (NASDAQ: SHOO), whose founder ended up serving some time in prison for his dealings with Stratton Oakmont. But there just isn't that much detail about the crimes here: too much of the book is devoted to Belfort's decadent lifestyle, and it gets repetitive and boring.
But wait! Belfort, who owes $110.4 million in restitution, is currently at work on a sequel which, hopefully, will provide more detail. There's also a move in the works, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-07-2007 @ 9:18PM
Thomas Crown said...
This book is crap. Jordie does drugs. Jordie makes a million a month. Jordie is in love with this wife. This book is a waste. He continues his con.
10-12-2007 @ 2:54AM
Nancy said...
Check out Dan Porush....... Still, Breaking the Law....... and Living Large.......
Warrent out for his arrest in the State of NY......
so he vacations... in the Bahamas......
????
10-18-2007 @ 6:56PM
k said...
the book was not a bad read at all, although i am sure he colored the stories a bit. i read through in in about 4 sittings, so it was interesting...some items i question: i can not believe an individual can take that many drugs and be alive, let alone function in the capacity that he had to work; i wonder if in his divorce settlement, it was required to write 10,000 times how beautiful his wife was with her loamy loins, perfect ass, c-tits, and outrageous legs, and blond mane. alright, we get the idea, she was good looking, and probably would be shocked if she werent, i mean, after all, he was a young, decent-looking multimillionaire, what would one expect. according to the end of the book, he likes the duchess's new husband. i wonder how much that guy likes jordan after him telling the whole world about her sexual prowess, blah, blah, blah. i would like to have read less about his drugs, and sex issues, and more about what he was actually doing (more details) that got him in trouble, and how he started it and came up with idea. i would guess it was in conversations with others, and not him just being hit by a lightning bolt. another question raised is in re to the issue with bo dietl, agent coleman, and the "other" fbi guy whose name was changed, perhaps the fbi should be doing some internal investigation into their own department to see who is leaking info to bo dietl, so that he can provide it to a guy under surveillance. i am no professor of law/justice, but i would think that raises flags...even now. one complete BS point was jordans comment about how he knew he could have even made more money had he done it legally. this is a load of crap, and is why people do things illegally to begin with...they cant make more money the honest way. that is the temptation. last point is that i would have liked to have known more about what actually caused the split between him and his wife...we go from him being sober, life being great, a model husband and father apparently to the point where he used one paragraph to lay the groundwork for the eventual split...she was sobbing in their house. my guess is that something else transpired. one would think that if this highly marketable babe went through all of the other bs with him over the years, the arrest/indictment issue would be like a vacation. need clarification there jordan, but overall...a good read for sure. i certainly hope however, that this money generated from the sale of the book/potential movie are going to the defrauded individuals, many of whom were NOT the millionaires that he tried to convince us that they were to be less mad at him.
12-03-2007 @ 5:01PM
Anthony said...
He certainly could have made more legally. He had the most powerful sales force in the country. Had he gone for long term success instead of the quick buck, the firm would still be in business and I would still be working there.
12-04-2007 @ 8:16PM
GGS said...
Great review! It echoed my thoughts. Would love to hear how he started and ran his business much more than how he "partied".
As a trader I thought this would be facinating. Instead I was left with a bunch of stories that made me feel like I was reading about a fraternity.
Also, he is not a trader, he is a glorified used car salesman. Traders would never allow a scumbag like that around. On the "floor" all you have is your word and his word means nothing.
12-14-2007 @ 3:48PM
Kim said...
Thank GOD I borrowed this book from the library instead of buying it like I had originally planned. It kept my interest (barely), but the writing. was. horrible. Repetitive is an understatement. The exaggerations of amounts of drug consumption embarrassing. There is no way humanly possible to take the amount of drugs he claims he took and live to tell about it, "balancing" or not. Fucking idiot. And by the way, there's no reason on earth to include the phrase "loamy loins" over five times in any book. Yes, I counted.
12-18-2007 @ 6:21AM
dlundq said...
Jordan, I can only relate to your introduction to the financial services business and then figuring out how to beat the bastards at their own rules. No one likes to be outshined. Just watched American Gangster this weekend and is all about you , same place, different names. I was raised to learn tyhe rules and then beat the bastards at their own rules. I make a great living...however, you have won to an extreme. Pay your dues, rathole some cash and beat the fuckers at their own game. You are Tucker max with an unlimited budget.....Kick Ass...Best Wishes..Killer D
12-30-2007 @ 5:12AM
greenammo said...
I thought it would be an interesting book and some of it was. However like others I wouldve liked to have had more detail about his rise and how he got there rather than the book starting at the top.
Like others have said there was definitly too much repetition, the drug stuff seems rather unbelievable. I wonder what his son and daughter think now too about their lives then and their thoughts on their dad now that hes bought down so many people illegally and legally all to save himself.
It wouldve been good to find out some detail on how the fbi finally got him too. Where did his plausible deniability fall over. Who ratted on him or whatever.
Hopefully he reads these reviews and sorts the supposed sequel out so that it is less about drugs and his crazy sex and more about the details.
As for the duchess it would be good to know why she finally flicked him after all she'd put up with for so long what finally made her see sense.