25 Facts About Jordan Belfort

Jordan Ross Belfort is an American entrepreneur, speaker, author, former stockbroker, and financial criminal.

Jordan Belfort published the memoir The Wolf of Wall Street in 2007, which was adapted into a Martin Scorsese film of the same name released in 2013, in which he was played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Jordan Belfort was born in 1962 in the Bronx borough of New York City to Jewish parents.

Jordan Belfort went on to graduate from American University with a degree in biology.

Jordan Belfort planned on using the money earned with Loewenstern to pay for dental school, and he enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.

Jordan Belfort became a door-to-door meat and seafood salesman on Long Island, New York.

Jordan Belfort claims in interviews and his memoirs that the business was an initial success; he grew his meat-selling business to employ several workers and sold 5,000 pounds of beef and fish a week.

Jordan Belfort says he was laid off after that firm experienced financial difficulties related to the Black Monday stock market crash of 1987.

Jordan Belfort founded Stratton Oakmont as a franchise of Stratton Securities, then later bought out the original founder.

Jordan Belfort was then indicted for securities fraud and money laundering in 1999.

Jordan Belfort served 22 months of a four-year sentence at the Taft Correctional Institution in Taft, California, in exchange for a plea deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation for running pump-and-dump scams that led to investor losses of approximately $200 million.

Jordan Belfort was ordered to pay back $110.4 million that he swindled from stock buyers.

Jordan Belfort shared a cell with Tommy Chong while serving his sentence, and Chong encouraged him to write about his experiences as a stockbroker.

Jordan Belfort has claimed that he is additionally putting the profits from his US public speaking engagements and media royalties towards the restitution, in addition to the $10,000 per month.

BusinessWeek reported that Jordan Belfort had paid only $21,000 toward his restitution obligations out of approximately $1.2 million paid to him in connection with the film before its release.

Jordan Belfort wrote the two memoirs The Wolf of Wall Street and Catching the Wolf of Wall Street which have been published in approximately 40 countries and translated into 18 languages.

Jordan Belfort wrote his first book in the days following his release from prison.

Jordan Belfort received a $500,000 advance from Random House, and before its release, a bidding war began for the book's film rights.

Jordan Belfort's speaking engagements are run through his business Global Motivation Inc and, as of 2014, Belfort was spending three weeks out of each month on the road for speaking engagements.

Some reviewers have reacted negatively to the content of the speeches, specifically Jordan Belfort's recounting of stories from the 1990s.

Jordan Belfort reportedly gave two workshops on Sales for the staff of Face to Face Training.

Jordan Belfort later married Nadine Caridi, a British-born, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn-raised model whom he met at a party.

Jordan Belfort was the final owner of the luxury yacht Nadine, which was originally built for Coco Chanel in 1961.

Jordan Belfort said that he insisted on sailing out in high winds against the advice of his captain, resulting in the sinking of the vessel when waves smashed the foredeck hatch.

Jordan Belfort has a cameo in the closing scene of the film as an Auckland Straight Line host.