Jordan Belfort

Jordan Ross Belfort (; born July 9, 1962) is an American former stockbroker, financial criminal, entrepreneur, speaker, and author. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to fraud and related crimes in connection with stock-market manipulation and running a boiler room as part of a penny-stock scam. Belfort spent 22 months in prison as part of an agreement under which he gave testimony against numerous partners and subordinates in his fraud scheme. He 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. Early life Belfort was born in 1962 in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, to Jewish parents. His father Max and his mother Leah were both accountants. He was raised in Bayside, Queens. Between completing high school and starting college, Belfort and his close childhood friend Elliot Loewenstern earned $20,000 selling Italian ice from styrofoam coolers to people at a local beach. Belfort went on to graduate from American University with a degree in biology. 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. However, the dean of the dental school gave a welcoming speech on the first day which said "The golden age of dentistry is over. If you're here simply because you're looking to make a lot of money, you're in the wrong place." Belfort then elected not to attend the graduate program. Career