Book SummaryThe Wolf of Wall Street, by Jordan Belfort

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of The Wolf of Wall Street

“Sex, drugs, and stock manipulation” aren’t words that most people normally string together, but that was the world of Jordan Belfort and his New York brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmont. Belfort and his staff of young traders challenged the long-established firms of Wall Street and enriched themselves to an outlandish degree with unprincipled—and often illegal—trading practices. Beyond that, Belfort and Stratton Oakmont’s traders used their wealth to indulge their every hedonistic whim, fueling a cottage industry of vice in a Long Island community that was previously a staid enclave of old money.

The Wolf of Wall Street, published in 2007 and adapted into a 2013 film by Martin Scorsese, is Belfort’s confessional memoir of his illegal actions, both in high finance and his personal life, which led to a self-destructive spiral into drug addiction and life-threatening behavior. Belfort’s actions eventually resulted in...

The Wolf of Wall Street Summary Meet Jordan Belfort

Though Belfort’s memoir starts at the height of his power, he provides snippets throughout that describe his life before Wall Street and illustrate how success affected him. In this section, we’ll take a glimpse at Belfort’s early days, his lifestyle once he’d achieved massive wealth, and the emotional turmoil he hid behind his mask.

Belfort provides a brief biographical sketch of his early life—his father was at turns abusive and caring, and his mother did nothing to protect him. As a child, he was always at the top of his class, but even then he was plagued by insomnia, anxiety, and a mind that wouldn’t stop racing. In college, he dropped out of dental school when he learned that dentistry was no longer a path toward guaranteed riches. He started a business in food services that failed, and he also met his first wife—whom he’d cheat on and later divorce—and eventually entered the stock trading game at the firm LF Rothschild in 1987 during the heyday of the bond securities market.

Childhood Trauma and Adult Dysfunction

Belfort doesn’t blame his parents for his actions as an adult, but it’s likely that his childhood shaped his adult life, especially if his parents...

The Wolf of Wall Street Summary Financial Crimes

Though Belfort did many things that were against the law, it was his financial crimes that both enriched him and eventually sent him to prison. So many of Belfort’s business dealings were against federal and state regulations that a significant amount of his time was spent inventing schemes to hide his transactions from regulatory institutions. Here, we’ll look at the principles upon which Belfort’s firm, Stratton Oakmont, was founded, the mechanisms by which it manipulated stock prices, and how Belfort attempted to conceal his gains by laundering his money through the Swiss banking system.

Belfort writes that stockbrokers like himself don’t actually create anything of value, nor do they have any specialized knowledge that gives them insight into the stock market. He says that at heart, stockbrokers are nothing more than sleazy salesmen, and that any kid out of high school or college can be trained to sound like a stock market guru. And thus, he created Stratton Oakmont as a firm comprising young, hungry traders with little financial knowledge but with plenty of motivation to make sale after sale.

(Shortform note: Belfort’s revelation that stockbrokers have no special...

The Wolf of Wall Street Summary The Consequences of Belfort’s Lifestyle

Despite the fact that it was his financial misdealings that eventually landed Belfort in prison, it was his excessive lifestyle that almost destroyed him before the law caught up. Belfort’s addictions to drugs, sex, and risk-taking behavior continued to dominate his life even after he left Stratton Oakmont behind. Belfort describes his half-hearted attempt to back away from the firm to avoid prosecution, how his life during his “early retirement” became a downward spiral of drug use, depression, and self-destruction, and how he was eventually forced to choose between rehab and death.

The Getaway Attempt

In 1994, the SEC offered Belfort a deal that would have given him an escape from Stratton Oakmont and its whirlwind of chaos. The SEC agreed to end its criminal investigation if Belfort stepped away from his firm and left securities trading for good. Belfort would reluctantly take the SEC’s deal, but he wouldn’t honor it in spirit—instead setting himself up as an outside adviser who’d help to steer Stratton Oakmont from behind the scenes.

After years of trying to pin Stratton Oakmont down for stock manipulation, **the SEC grew tired of pursuing its case and offered to let...

Shortform Exercise: Reflect on the Life of Jordan Belfort

Now that Belfort’s life as the Wolf of Wall Street is over, he’s made a career out of motivating others. Consider what lessons can be learned from Belfort’s memoir and what his experiences say about society’s financial and legal systems.

While Belfort’s illegal actions to enrich himself are indefensible, his goal of making money is one that many people share. In your own experience, have you ever felt pressured to cross an ethical line to make money or advance your career? If so, in what way, and how did you handle the situation?