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"Wolf Of Wall Street" Set To Make $100 Million This Year, Warns "Greed Is Not Good"
It seems crime pays... or "committing crimes, writing about them, having them adapated into a screenplay, and made into an oscar-winning movie" pays. Jordan Belfort, the "Wolf of Wall Street", as Bloomberg reports, expects to make more money this year than he "ever made in his best year as a broker." Having spent 22 months in jail in the 1990s, Belfort comments that 'my goal is to make north of a $100 million so I am paying back everyone this year," and adds some remarkably irresponsbible philosophy given the markets today and the world in which we are told we live in... "Greed is not good. Ambition is good, passion is good." How do we BTFD if we are not greedy?
As Bloomberg reports, Jordan Belfort, whose memoir “The Wolf of Wall Street” was turned into a film by Martin Scorsese, expects to earn more than he made as a stockbroker this year, allowing him to repay the victims of his financial fraud.
“I’ll make this year more than I ever made in my best year as a broker,” Belfort told a conference in Dubai today. “My goal is to make north of a $100 million so I am paying back everyone this year.”
Belfort, a motivational speaker, will use his earnings from a 45-city speaking tour in the U.S. to repay about $50 million to investors. That was his share of the fine, he said.
U.S. stockbroker Belfort spent 22 months in jail for money laundering and securities fraud in the 1990s after his Long Island-based Stratton Oakmont Inc. defrauded investors out of more than $200 million. That story was retold last year in a blockbuster film starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
“After six months of putting all the profit from the U.S. tour into an escrow account, it will go directly back to investors,” Belfort said. “Once everyone is paid back, believe me I will feel a lot better.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission shut down his firm in 1998 and in 2003, Belfort was convicted and sentenced to four years in jail. He now works as a motivational speaker to repay $110.4 million to a victim-compensation fund, which the government said must receive half of his income.
“I got greedy,” Belfort said today. “Greed is not good. Ambition is good, passion is good. Passion prospers. My goal is to give more than I get, that’s a sustainable form of success.”
Perhaps he should take the $100 million and put it all in a diversified portfolio of social media stocks? or all on black? Just don't "blow" it...
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This motherfucker is a motivational speaker. Only in America.
I haven't watched the movie because I feel like I've already seen it. And I only read books with pictures, as most here already suspect. If I ever saw him speak, I would be motivated to do something, however. Best I not see him speak.
I saw it, it was damn good. And there isn't a guy out there with two balls that could have seen it and not wanted to be in his shoees fpr most of it. The problem isn't the wolves, it's the sheperd.
I don't need to see it. These crackheads are a dime a dozen over here.
yeah, but watching a flick like that brings out the animal spirits... being around them every day is a different story.
dude I work in this industry with these filthy animals. I no longer hold my head up high about what I do. But at least within the confines of what I do, I try to do the right thing. I have worked with and literally next to these chop shop satanic motherfuckers my whole life. They are disgusting human beings. I have been around them socially. It's not so glamorous. It's fucking vile. The ultimate irony about this flick is the same liberal douchenozzles that ridicule this industry stampeded each other to try to be in the film and glamorize it.
dude I work in NYC real estate, I'm pretty familiar with criminals. I'm just saying the rush of making a bunch of money at once is exhilirating and that's why this movie is doing well. Of course it's wrong, and vile, and everything that's wrong with the world. That's why they go to jail, but the movie taps in the most basic part of human nature and it's fun to watch. That's all.
Sorry if I am pegging you to defending the movie. I did not see it. I have never made a shitload of money at the expense of another group of people. So I can't really say if it's exhilirating. I'm sure if you lack any semblance of moral fiber, it probably is. I think it's really funny that these hollywood douche's fell all over themselves to glamorize it. I wish you were right about them going to jail.
no problem man. the fonz is the coolest.
But you're in the financial industry and you've never made a bunch of money at the expense of another group of people? C'mon fonz, you don't get the righteousness and the money, it's one or the other. And we took the money, no?
There is a middle path, Broiler. Not many people on it. The industry is designed from the ground-up to weed out people like that. But there are a few.
No one can earn a million dollars honestly
William Jennings Bryan
Man I am wading in trolling territory here. sorry. damn whiskey. fonz, rand, debt, have a good night.
Please account for inflation with quotes. By today's value, his quote would (conservitavely) read No one can earn eleven million dollars honestly....
It's fine BK. All legit questions.
At the direct expense of a group of people? No. Never. Have I ever called a client and specifically recommended something that I knew was adverse to the client? Never. Have I ever pitched a client a security my firm was just working some pump and dump scheme with? Never. That is what these guys did. That was their business model.
Have I sold products that paid me a commission? Sure, absolutely. Dod the clients get something in return for that? Absolutely. Could they have decided to invest on their own? Sure. They made the call.
My biggest regret is actually where we are today. I feel almost guilty managing money today because I honestly can't look at these markets and believe in them. At the same time zirp has distorted things so much that it is impossible to make any rational decisions. I do encourage people to own hard assets all the time fwiw.
Look the other truth of the matter is the middle class had such a good run that many of the jobs that are disappearing today were just middle men jobs that aren't really needed anyway. So you better be able to prove that you know your shit otherwise you will be put out to pasture. Or you better be a great scammer and hold on as long as you can.
So, you're saying 'buy the fucking dip'?
I believe that honesty in business will pay off, eventually. May we live so long.
Do you feel the irony that you're expecting honesty to "pay off" in this context?
I don't expect my honesty to ever pay off, monetarily or other.
I'm honest nonetheless, so I can look in the mirror tomorrow.
Then it has paid off for you. For others, that is no payoff. Psychology determines a lot more in life than ADHD.
fat finger
I went to dinner tonight with a former client who is in his '70's. He bought dinner because he was so happy with what I was able to do for him. I tried to pay, but he insisted. He gave my wife a present.
Math: if you recommended for every client to go to a roulette table and bet on black every time with all the money they started with and won and stop after 10 wins, 1 in 1000 (ish) would have multiplied their money by 1024. That person would love the shit out of you. While 50% of the others couldn't blame you too much, since at some point that had more money than they started with.
Statistics helps with perceptions.
I'm not in the financial (or gambling) industry. He paid me by the hour.
That doesn't rule out prostitution.
Shame Rand, shame!
Honesty is business will pay off but only if the game isn't rigged.
It is rigged.
To take your smaller point, I have pretty much opted out of investing because of all the government stimulus, central planning and control. If the Fed says something with the wrong inflection it will make more difference to the markets than the next iPhone 6 or Chocolate latte' from Starbucks...which is wrong.
I do not know exactly how you hedge central planning and economic destruction.
A guy like you needs a guy like Fonz. How much have you left on the table so far? I think the majority of Zero Hedge is guys who sold way too soon and are hoping for a huge crash to get back in. When you decide to get back in find an advisor who says he will never have you sell. After your first impression that he is an idiot just go ahead and sign the papers.
Thank you for the insight into your industry. I wish you all the best and hope your success encourages others to follow your example.
Respect and all...But how does one make money NOT at the expense of another or another group? From my understanding of capitalism in the current economy, the only time a transaction is made is when one feels he is getting the best of the other party or a feeling a necessity (read, desperation or hunger) is satisfied. Please correct me with examples if you can thing of a monetary for goods exhange in which both parties, given equal knowledge of the product and manufacturing cost of the product, do not feel ripped off in some way.
Here is an example. Many of the people I have done business with are market savvy. I have told them so. I have told them that they have the know how to manage their assets themselves. If their answer to me is "that may be so, but I am too fucking busy and don't want to deal with it anyway. I trust you, and find your fee reasonable"
So am I making money at the expense of them?
At that point in the transaction, does the money not feel easily made? Do you not feel like you have made money for something that individual could have done themselves? Or perhaps you are taking advantage of their lack of intelligence or perceived welath of time to invest in aquiring the knowledge you provide.
While I certainly do not think you are doing anything wrong, I think it is a case a of rationalization to believe you are not taking advantage of someone when you profit serving them more than they profit being served by you.
regarding that example, at that point in the transaction the person has made it clear to me that if I still encourage them to do this on their own, they will choose someone else to handle it for them.
So, if you don't take their money, someone else will. I understand. I don't think that means you haven't taken advantage of them. It would be like if someone went to a used car dealership asking for a dodge challenger. The salesmen told them they have one, but they shouldn't buy it unless they are very experienced repairing cars, because he knows the tranny is shot and the air conditioning system is leaking. The customer (not able to repair shit) still wants to buy here because the price is $2000 less than other dealers list it.
Like I tried to say: Taking advantage of someone isn't necessarily wrong. I think in many cases it is required for a capitalist structure when regarding items that are not necessary for life.
I guess it's just subjective. No point in getting too caught up in it. I think we are saying something similar in that, no matter how you view the structure, that is how things have been built, and times are changing.
I agree to agree.
You obviously don't understand the concept of "value" - you only understand the concept of "money". In the old saw, the fool knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. That's you, buddy.
Sure, you can try to live like Kazinscky, but most of us like the modern world. I could work for two years with clay and fire, and not make a passable toilet. I can buy one for $100 - less than a day's effort. How is the toilet maker 'taking advantage' of me? He is SAVING ME YEARS OF EFFORT. He is giving me months and days of time that I can use to enrich and/or enjoy my life, compared to the effort of making a toilet for myself. So is every business that operates in a free market. Trading makes us richer not poorer, unless you're a modern day Scrooge McDuck who loves his money more than his life.
Assuming you ever go to a restaurant, do you moan that the steak you could buy for $8 at the MegaLoMart costs you $30? Do you award no value to the person who went out and bought it for you, who cooked it for you, who served it to you, who cleaned up before and after, who decorated the restaurant, etc., etc., etc. There is a word that describes people like you, and it is "churl".
I don't think you are grasping my point. I am not saying that you or I feel taken advantage of in the purchase of a $100 toilet. Yes, the value we receive for the product is exceptional. What I'm saying is that the simple fact that a toilet is available at Lowe's for any price means that at whatever price it is available, we are being taken advantage of by Lowe's. They (most likely) profit on that series of toilet in some way. Unless of course you happen to buy it on clearance for less than you can sell it for. At that point, you have taken advantage of Lowe's.
You are also ignoring the role of psychology in the "free market". Humans feeling the need to purchase that shiny, white toilet, rather than one made of clay as you suggest, is a psychological conditioning that gives large businesses an advantage to take over you. Perhaps you are inept at forming clay, but your neighbor may be able to make a clay toilet with one hour of work and $5 of material. But you would never bother looking to aquire such a toilet because you are trained to find the white porcelain one which is only feasible to be made in large volumes by large companies.
Take a look around. There's more to see if you think things through. And yes, I complain about the $30 steak, because usually the one I make for $8 is better. And my psychological training is to tip well at restaurants, so while I give the waiter a $20 tip for a a meal for two, I feel I am being taken advantage of knowing he/she potentially makes more per hour than I do as an engineer (assuming others tip as "properly" as I do). I know, I'm an asshole.
If you provide sufficient value then you are not making money at the expense of another. Not sure what Fonz's portfolios looks like, but if he is a long term investor and can keep people in their long term plans, then he is providing them more than sufficient value. That is really the biggest thing..keeping them in during the downturns. I can say for a fact that once people get scared out they never get back in or they do so at the worst time possible. That 1% a year is nothing on that basis. You can figure returns without it but there is a 99% chance that they get nowhere near the same returns managing it themselves.
You always have to stay invested and buy the dips. Anyone who has ever said otherwise has been proven very wrong time and time again. Even myself at various times over the last couple of years. The truth is that the people I let sell, I probably didn't deserve some of my fees. The ones I kept in couldn't have paid me enough. That is why getting filthy rich over a lifetime of investing is simple but it sure as hell isn't easy.
Study competetive advantage. Even when one party has absolute advantage in producing two different goods, one of two parties still has the competetive advantage and if the two parties specialize in their individual fields, they will create more total than if they each had not specialized.
..."But how does one make money NOT at the expense of another or another group?"
Oh, for pity's sake - were you raised in some anti-capitalist backwater? Every transaction in a free market is one where the person purchasing the product feels he/she is getting more value than they are paying. I recently bought some LED lights for my bicycle. They are easy to get on and get off, bright, use hardly any battery, and don't add a lot of weight to the bike. I was happy to pay the $10 for the pair. So what if it only cost the guy $1 to manufacture them? I eagerly traded a few minutes of my working time for these items which may just save my life some night (and will get my GF off my back about night riding). This guy didn't make ANY money at my "expense"; we traded some of our time and effort to each other, and each of us was satisfied. In fact, the vast majority of exchanges work this way - when you buy a cup of coffee for $1, or when you buy a new car for $50,000.
It's when the government gets in the way, through direct or indirect means, that screw up markets. Don't think your child is getting value from his/her education? Gov't doesn't care. Think you're paying too much for your automobile license? Gov't doesn't care. Unlike free markets, you can't get public school or a license plate from anyone else - that's where a lot of dissatisfaction stems from.
I don't know about the rest of you, I downloaded that shit and watched it for the price of the watts it took to DL and watch. Far cheaper than paying some theater or a rental agency.
Scoff. That is questionably illegal. Did you also upload the bits you were downloading? If you did, that was certainly distributing copywrighted material without consent. If you didn't, perhaps you assumed you were downloading from someone with the permissions to distribute the material (a good samaritan). #plausibledeniability
I'm too ignorant to answer those questions ;-)
All the ex-presidents should be blushing after this weak act of criminality.
'Wall Street' wasn't supposed to hold up Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) as a hero. But that's what a lot of people took from it. I gave up LONG ago trying to save people from con-artists like this guy. It's wasted effort. They won't learn until AFTER it's too late. There aren't even pieces left to pick up.
Work only with those who already seek wise counsel. There's more than you think. The rest.... you couldn't save them if you tried.
Same as the people who listen to Springsteen's "Born in the USA", and chant the chorus like it's an anthem, instead of an elegy.
+1,000 Fonz...I am independent totally now....couldn't stand the cunts I associated with at my last firm.....and totally agree with the liberal douchenozzles staement....fucking hypocrites...every damned last one of them.
At what risk:reward ratio or win:loss ratio that you propose to your clients do you prove to not be a cunt?
+1 for going indy. Last wirehouse firm (aka bank) firm raped and pillaged better than any back alley crack addict will. If you are a client of bank after all this you are as oblivious as it gets. I know, you are saying to yourself "but my guy at MorganUBSMerrilWells is different" you are fkcing clueless and deserve the pillaging you are enduring.
Steal a million dollars from somebody, you go to jail. Steal a dollar from a million people, they elect you to the Senate.
Gordon, I mean Jordan, was somewhere in between. Does a little jail time now he's got his comeback tour rolling pretty good.
Steal a dollar from a million people, they elect you to the Senate.
Or they call you a preacher....................
I watched the newer Statham movie the other day (the one where he is a retired narc who moves to a small town and proceeds to kick ass and kill all the bad guy drug dealers), and all I could think about was that the war on drugs is cover for the CIA and that we're propagandized daily that militarized police are just here to protect us. Fucking red pill. No, I'm no fun at parties, either.
war on drugs just yields shittier drugs, imho. Quality of herb in NYC is drastically better since Colorado legalized. I don't f with pills, red or otherwise.
Same concept as booze during prohibition. A lot of people drank wood alcohol and died or were seriously injured. There are some well meaning people involved in the war on drugs, but they are misguided ideologues. As for the red pill, it's a reference to a movie. Nonetheless, you are wise not to partake. It's a bad trip, man.
The whole time I saw the statham movie all I kept saying was if this guy is in witness protection, why doesn't he just fucking leave town as soon as all that shit started. Problem solved. And ya, also about the other part. With wolf of Wall Street, watching with friends, I kept on about how this shit really happens, all these people do is steal, and the federal reserve rewards them for their criminal behavior with free money through QE, which is just another long term bailout at our expense, and all the govt usually does, at least with the really big criminals(this guy is small potatoes next to Jamie dimon) is make them pay a billion dollar fine out of their 8 billion profits. I'm a real blast at parties too. Once you wake up, it's impossible not to think like this. Sometimes I wish I could just go back to sleep. It is tiresome feeling like you are the only one paying attention to anything
I've been on the phone all year trying to reach Agent Smith for reinsertion.
They should have ended that movie with Neo on the floor, grabbing agent smiths suit jacket, hysterical crying, begging for the steak.
didnt see it. but you dont have to work on wall street to do coke and fuck hot bitches... the dudes who envy this guys clealy didnt get enough pussy in college and didnt make enough in their 30s. and now they sit here on zero hedge with no wives, no kids, and no lives
Oh I see we're making assumptions. Bitter old man with a Mrs. Bitter old man and a couple of rugrats? Congrats.
Watch the movie. Hollywood comes through every once in a while. Probably closer to the truth than the B.S. in Bloomberg. Assuming you're not too parochial, DiCaprio gives an astonishing performance... simply fabulous entertainment. Years ago I read Den of Thieves. Puts it more in perspective for me.
... Or they might just be in their 20's and/or think that having a wife and kids isn't all that impressive.
depends on the wife, i guess... i'll keep mine....
i mean fuck, im not against hedonism. hell my wife has seen me hoover a rail off a stripper before. but jesus christ we tell our kids these days to go party, have fun, follow your dreams, and major in whatever you want. then put this 'entertainment' in front of them and glamourize this get rich quick bullshit. no wonder we have a generation of 30 year old bed wetting video gamers with who live with mom and dad (high self-esteem, though).
you get a job, you get a wife, you get a house, and you have a child. try not to fuck up that second or fourth one..
hell my wife has seen me hoover a rail off a stripper before.
oh she sounds like a keeper, I have girlfriends with more self respect. You definitely have room to judge people.
you get a job, you get a wife, you get a house, and you have a child. try not to fuck up that second or fourth one..
why? if your wife was enough she wouldn't be watching you make an ass of yourself. Enjoy the standard fare, but don't pass it off as the right thing to do for everyone...
matter of opinion. dont let your religion get the best of you.
Belfort coulda taken a lesson from Corzine and made sure he'd "invested" in a politician or two.
He'd still of been in business
Me, those two left shoes don't fit and don't make a right, not in the paradigm of peoples savings. I got two balls, kinda big balls. I believe, that is what makes me not want to where Belforts shoes. Sorry for dangling participle phrases and all, but your catatonic logic is mind bending.
I read some interviews of some people he stole a shitload of money from, a lot of them in their 50s and near retirement. A lot of them were planning on seeing the movie too, just out of morbid fascination with how this asshole lived and what he did with the money he stole from them.
Only in Australia or New Zealand or something. I think he is staying overseas to avoid trouble here.
I got $5 says he's lying.
If Bernanke gave 2 speeches per day Mon-Friday at his $250K rate he'd need just about the entire year to make $100 million.
This guy is lying.
How is he any different than Hillary or Bill. He at least feels the guilt.
He had me @ your're gonna love my Stawks!
plenty of smart people went to see his movie. putting money in his pocket.
even smart folk can be fucking morons.
Ass chewing isn't good for you either.
as Jordan once said (or Leo)
http://youtu.be/c1Vtzn3MZyA
How to make $100 Million:
First, you rip off people for $200 million and go to prison.
"Greed is not good. Ambition is good, passion is good."
Playing by the rules and giving a damn about the host is even better.
Neglect of such is the manifestation of Greed.
And ultimately quite stupid.
Watch as it unfolds.
Is there any surprise this is how the Clintons made their money as well? You know, with money the sheiks "donated" to the Clinton Foundation so that they could pay themselves to speak.
You can add the Bernank to that list too. Those $250k speaking fees sure do add up. A quarter of a million here, another quarter of a million there...
Nothing motivational, or aspirational about The Ben Bernank, unless you part of the beard appreciation society. The guy is a hack.
Greed makes you rich, ambition gets you killed.
And you wonder why this Country is so far down the "toilet" to be irretrievable?...
When this movie came out I thought it was not only in poor taste given the state of the economy and how people are struggling, but for Scorsese to do the quintessential "rerun" of Gordon Gekko was on a par with GM and Ford's Mustang and Camaro retro revival of the glory days shows just how out of touch with reality we are with everything especially in film that we need to be nostalgic about the very decadence that got us into this mess in the first place.
Let the good times be remembered, cause they certainly no longer have wheels to role on anymore!!!
Scorsese is a stylist par excellence and that is as far as it goes, empty moralizing and vacuous glamorizing, fitting for our zeitgeist.
Goddamn I bet her ass tastes good!
The math doesnt add up. I went to see the guy in vancouver, Canada. Paid $100 US.
There were a handful of us to see him.
He was pretty testy on 60 minutes about his earnings:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2625445/Jordan-The-Wolf-Of-Wall-...
In order for him to pay $50m to US govt he'd need to earn $100m, after tax.Lets say he needs to gross $200m.
Well at $100 a ticket he might get $50 after the venue and agents take their cut. And thats before his expenses, hotel, airfare etc.
So he is trying to tell the world 4 million people will go to see him speak?
I dont see it.
What a scumbag.
Hold up a liquor store in America and they put you in jail for a long time where you need to share a cell with Bubba. Commit large scale fraud and ruin the lives of others and they either give you a fat bonus or they at most put you in jail for 22 months and after that you can become a motivational speaker and a 'giver'.
I guess people can turn their lives around. Too bad that they first need to create damage and receive punishment before they reform. Would he have reformed if he hadden't been caught and punished?
Depends how connected to Ashkenazi you are.
"October 14, 2009: State Sen. Loretta Weinberg told a small but enthusiastic crowd of Jewish supporters in Woodbridge that they should elect her running mate, Gov. Jon Corzine, because his “core values” were in line with Jewish values."
http://www.njjewishnews.com/article/157/running-mate-says-corzine-shares...
Jon Cornzine moved on and stole a billion $$$'s and is trying to keep a low profile in Cap Ferrat...incredible values.
That nasty fat sleaze Weinberg can eat some serious ass.
My goal this year is to make $300 million.
My cock is 11 inches.
Every stock I buy goes up.
I am not short nor am I bald.
When does Bernanke's movie come out? "Printzilla" would become a block buster.
Never watched the movie.. Greed isn't that interesting to me.
I was just wondering: What kinda chow is he Wolfing down out of that woman's ass with both hands?
If that is how he chose to spend his time and money, maybe I've been looking at things all wrong...
Maybe Thermonuclear War isn't the problem.. It's the solution?
Meh...
Nothing wrong with greed, very much wrong with fraud and manipulation as a means of making money like the Wall Street whores rely upon!
I clicked for the pic, damn...