Jordan Belfort Net Worth (Money & Salary)

What is Jordan Belfort’s Net Worth

With a net worth estimated at negative $100 million, Jordan Belfort, an American former stockbroker, convicted felon, and author, is widely known as “the wolf of Wall Street.” However, it should be noted that during his tenure in finance, he was never called this nickname by anyone on Wall Street; he self-proclaimed it while writing his memoir from prison.

From 1989 to 1996, Jordan led the financial firm Stratton Oakmont, which was involved in fraudulent pump-and-dump schemes, swindling hundreds of millions from thousands of unsuspecting victims. Subsequently, in 1999, he and his co-founder, Danny Porush, were indicted on charges of securities fraud and money laundering, both of which they pleaded guilty to. Their prison sentences were lightened due to their cooperation with prosecutors.

The 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese, provides a very loose portrayal of Jordan’s life. Some may say that the filmmakers engaged in ethical malpractice by glorifying Belfort’s image. At the least, they failed to accurately depict the significant adversity suffered by the victims of his and Stratton Oakmont’s schemes. Many of these victims were everyday individuals who could not handle such financial losses. Additionally, remarkably, Belfort made a cameo appearance near the film’s conclusion, which further amplified his notoriety and enabled him to reinvigorate his career as a motivational speaker. In contrast, the 2000 film “Boiler Room,” which also draws on Belfort and Stratton Oakmont, more reasonably illustrates the real impacts on victims of financial schemes.

Restitution

Over the course of Jordan’s fraudulent activities, he defrauded approximately $200 million from 1,513 victims. At his sentencing in 2003, he was mandated to provide $110 million as restitution. Additionally, he was sentenced to four years in prison, a reduced sentence that resulted from his role as an FBI informant, where he wore a wire to implicate several former partners and colleagues. Ultimately, he served 22 months and was released in April 2008.

The original restitution terms required him to pay 50% of his gross income to the 1,513 victims. Between 2007 and 2009, he managed to pay $700,000 towards this obligation, while in 2010, he paid nothing.

In 2011, Jordan sold the cinematic rights to his two memoirs to Red Granite Pictures for $1.045 million, receiving $940,500 upfront and an additional $250,000 to be earned in 2012. According to his restitution agreement, he should have compensated his victims an estimated $500,000 in 2011, yet he only paid $21,000 that year. In 2012, the US government pressured Red Granite to directly pay $125,000 (half of his $250k payment) to them, resulting in total payments of $158,000 that year.

In 2013, the U.S. government consented to modify his restitution arrangement, changing it from 50% of gross earnings to a fixed minimum of $10,000 monthly for life.

So far, Jordan has repaid around $13-14 million in restitution, with the bulk of this amount ($11 million) coming from the sale of assets surrendered during his sentencing. Consequently, he still owes approximately $100 million to his victims.

In 2018, prosecutors brought Jordan back to court regarding the roughly $9 million he earned from speaking engagements between 2013 and 2015, claiming he had failed to allocate any of these earnings towards restitution.

Nickname “Wolf of Wall Street” Origin

The film from 203 is loosely inspired by Jordan’s memoir released in 2007, which shares the same title, “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Given the shared titles and the frequent references in interviews and articles, one might mistakenly believe that Jordan was routinely identified as “the wolf of Wall Street” in his finance career. This assumption is completely FALSE. In reality, Jordan Belfort was never known as “the Wolf of Wall Street” during the time of his financial dealings.

So how did this nickname originate? Jordan actually created that nickname while he was penning his memoir from prison. Reports suggest that it was his cellmate, Tommy Chong from Cheech and Chong, who inspired him to document his experiences.

In the movie, which was financed using funds that fugitive Jho Low misappropriated from the Malaysian government, the “wolf of Wall Street” moniker is depicted as having been given to him by a Forbes writer in a 1991 magazine cover story. This is inaccurate. The actual title of the Forbes piece was “Steaks, Stocks – What’s the Difference?,” referring to Jordan’s initial career selling steaks and seafood door-to-door on Long Island before becoming a stockbroker. Furthermore, the article characterized him as a “twisted Robin Hood who takes from the rich and gives to himself and his merry band of brokers.” It also labeled his business tactics as “pushing dicey stocks on gullible investors.” At no point does it refer to him as a “wolf.”

Jordan Belfort’s Early Life

Born on July 9, 1962, in The Bronx, New York, Jordan Ross Belfort was raised in a Jewish household in Bayside, Queens. During the summer before starting college, he and a close friend earned $20,000 selling Italian ice to beachgoers. He completed his biology degree at American University. Subsequently, he enrolled in the University of Maryland School of Dentistry but left after

It was on the first day of classes that a faculty member remarked that becoming a dentist was not a path to wealth.

Career

On Long Island, New York, Belfort began by selling meat and seafood door-to-door. His one-man operation expanded into a business that not only employed several people but also sold 5,000 pounds of beef and fish each week. At the age of 25, he experienced bankruptcy and subsequently secured a position as a stockbroker trainee at L.F. Rothschild. Reportedly, his initial boss revealed that success could be achieved through masturbation, cocaine, and hookers. Following the stock market crash of Black Monday in 1987, he was laid off from this firm. Nevertheless, Belfort became captivated by the potential for making substantial amounts of money like his more experienced stockbroker colleagues. Throughout the late 1980s, he worked for various financial firms, diligently acquiring knowledge. After perfecting his sales pitch, he made the decision to launch his own firm in 1989.

In the early 1990s, Belfort established Stratton Oakmont. The firm focused on marketing penny stocks through a boiler room operation. To swindle his investors, he employed a pump-and-dump scheme. Stratton Oakmont reached its peak with over 1,000 stockbrokers on staff and more than $1 billion in assets under management. However, the National Association of Securities Dealers began to investigate the firm’s transactions closely. Then, in December 1996, the National Association of Securities Dealers expelled Stratton Oakmont from its membership, which ultimately led to the firm’s closure.

Reportedly, Belfort funneled his money into Swiss bank accounts, with assistance from his mother-in-law and his wife’s aunt in smuggling it into Switzerland. While managing Stratton Oakmont, he allegedly organized parties featuring activities such as midget-tossing contests.

Motivational Speaking Career

Following his prison release, Belfort transformed into a motivational speaker, founding a company known as Global Motivation, Inc. He dedicated approximately three weeks each month to traveling and delivering speeches that emphasized the significance of ethics in business and the lessons learned from errors made. In the 1990s, for example, he believed he had a justification for violating financial regulatory rules simply because many others did as well. Engaging Belfort for a speaking event typically costs between $30,000 and $75,000, whereas booking a sales seminar with him starts at $80,000 and may go higher. His speeches have received mixed reviews, with some critics responding negatively to his accounts of his previous regulatory violations from the 1990s.

Writing Career

Belfort authored the memoirs “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Catching the Wolf of Wall Street,” which have been released in roughly 40 countries and translated into 18 languages. The memoir “The Wolf of Wall Street” was adapted into a film featuring actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, and Margot Robbie, directed by Martin Scorsese. Additionally, he wrote “Way of the Wolf: Become a Master Closer with Straight Line Selling,” which was published in 2017.

Personal Life

During his tenure at Stratton, Belfort indulged in a luxurious lifestyle.

and often hosted parties. Additionally, he experimented with recreational drugs, particularly methaqualone, also known as quaaludes. Bo Dietl, who was previously his head of security, mentioned in an interview that during his employment, he never witnessed Belfort being sober and disclosed that Belfort had deep connections with the Mob.

During Belfort’s tenure at Stratton Oakmont, he divorced his first wife, Denise Lombardo, with their marriage spanning from 1985 to 1991. In 1991, he wed British model Nadine Caridi after they met at a party. Together, they had two children, Chandler and Carter. Their marriage ended after she accused him of domestic violence, presumably fueled by drugs, leading to their divorce in 2005. In 2008, Belfort entered into marriage with Anne Koppe, which lasted until their divorce in 2020. He began dating Cristina Invernizzi in 2021.

In prison, Tommy Chong was his cellmate and played a pivotal role in encouraging Belfort to author “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Belfort acquired the luxurious yacht named Nadine, constructed in 1961 for the renowned designer Coco Chanel, and he changed its name in honor of his second wife. The yacht sank near Sardinia in June 1996, but all those on board were rescued by the Special Forces of the Italian Navy. Belfort later confessed that he insisted on navigating the yacht in rough weather, disregarding the captain’s warnings.

Long Island Mansion

In October 1992, Jordan purchased a lavish 9,000-square-foot mansion on two acres in Old Brookeville, New York, for $5.775 million. Subsequently, in 2001, this mansion was seized by the federal government and sold to reimburse a portion of Belfort’s fraud victims. The house was sold by the government in March 2001 for $2.53 million. It was listed for sale in 2015 with a price tag of $4.75 million. In August 2018, the asking price was reduced to $2.89 million. Ultimately, it sold in October 2018 for $2.4 million.