I know I can’t be the only one who walked out of a theater after sitting through 3 hours of The Wolf of Wall Street (read Filmdrunk’s review here) and wondered, “Who the hell is this Jordan Belfort guy and did all of that sh*t really happen?” So I started Googling around, like I’m sure a lot of people did, and discovered that most of the stuff depicted in the film came straight from the book the movie is based on — and much of it has been verified to be true.
Writes Joe Nocera in the New York Times:
In his book, Mr. Belfort makes Stratton Oakmont sound like the most debauched brokerage that ever existed — and the movie takes full advantage, with scene after scene of drug-addled nights and sexcapades in the office during trading hours. And while I was inclined to view this as an exaggeration as well, Terence Winter, the screenwriter, told me that when he interviewed the F.B.I. agent who finally nailed Mr. Belfort, the man said, “I tracked this guy for 10 years, and everything he wrote is true.”
After reading this I was even more intrigued, so I kept digging and eventually ended up on YouTube watching videos featuring Belfort, some from back in the day when he still worked in finance, and many more of him post-prison giving motivational speeches and sales seminars. Because I found myself fascinated watching them, I figured I’d share some of what I found here with you guys.
Here’s Belfort giving a speech at the Stratton Oakmont Christmas party in 1994…
Here he is giving a sales seminar on the art of persuasion…
Here he is speaking at a Stratton Oakmont beach house party in the Hamptons in 1991…
Here he is talking about the night his yacht (which was originally built for Coco Chanel) sank off the coast of Italy…
Here he is in an interview talking about bunking with Tommy Chong in federal prison, among other things…
And here’s Belfort’s ex-wife, the Duchess, and his father at a party. The were portrayed by Margot Robbie and Rob Reiner in the film.
