Entrepreneur of the Week: Jordan Belfort

There are very few inspirational stories left in the world. Fortunately, we have come across one man who sustained his rags to riches success; he learned to master his skills and utilized his ambition, passion and dedication. This gentleman defines the concept of entrepreneurship and the team, at Elite Daily, praises him as a great inspiration. The man we are spotlighting is Jordan Belfort, and this is his story.

Belfort was born and raised in Queens, New York. After graduating from college, he had already accumulated a tremendous amount of debt due to a company start-up failure. Jordan subsequently decided to take the General Securities Representative Exam, and he immediately began working as a stock broker on Wall Street. He started off functioning as the “cold caller,” but his boss continually reminded him that he could never make it in the stock world. Belfort definitely felt as though he was being thrown into the lion’s den, but he decided to take up the challenge against the Wall Street animals.

Fast forward five years, Jordan already opened up his own firm, Stratton Oakmont; Oakmont served as a boiler room brokerage firm. The man elevated himself from his debts and headed one of the leading brokerage firms in the country. As owner and founder, Belfort employed over a 1,000 stockbrokers, and the firm handled stocks issues totaling over $1 billion.

 

 

As his professional career had progressed, Jordan strategized the development of different formulas to manipulate stocks. He invented the classic “pump and dump” which involved him to inflating a company’s public stock through false research and selling the cheap stocks at a much higher rate. Stratton Oakmont, stationed in Long Island, transformed into one of the most outlandish “boiler rooms” the finance industry had ever seen.

Employees would earn over $200k/year, and all drove luxury vehicles including Mercedes, Ferraris, and Bentleys. Belfort coordinated an operation that grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, and his colleagues fell in love with his rags to riches success. He demonstrated his ability to be a natural leader, and charmed others with his charisma and ambition.

One little known fact lies in Belfort’s relationship with Steve Madden. Jordan held responsibility for raising Steve Madden’s equity and increasing their sales revenue. At one point, he even served as COO of Steve Madden; he managed to transform Steve Madden from a small time shoe maker into a popular consumer brand.

 

 

With years of success under his belt, Jordan started to celebrate his new found fortune like any another well established entrepreneur. Having gone through trials and tribulations in his personal life he married super models and also proclaims his affinity for company of escorts. His memoirs have such outlandish stories that even include his exploits and drug use, even once having a hooker place a candle in his rectum to help stimulate him.  The man spent all of his money like no tomorrow, constantly indulging in the best that the world had to offer.

Jordan also enjoyed traveling, especially yachting in international waters. His memoirs also detail his account of his fifty meter yacht sinking off the coast of Italy, because he refused to listen to the captain’s orders on setting sails during extremely high waves and wind speeds.

After all of his success and tumultuous partying, Belfort felt comfortable enough to depart his company and retire in peace. However, his retirement did not end in complete peace, because all of his public controversies made him a target for the FBI. By 1998, the entrepreneur faced federal charges on securities fraud and money laundering; he eventually served 22 months in a federal prison. In addition, Belfort paid the United States government $100 million dollars in fines.

Presently, Belfort makes just under $20 million dollars a year through the success of his book, The Wolf of Wall Street. He also works as a motivational speaker and sits on the board of several public companies. Once again, Jordan managed to achieve success after losing everything; he again defines the meaning of an entrepreneur. Although he fell to the feds, we applaud Jordan Belfort for his rag to riches story and for enjoying life in the most elite way.

 

Belfort’s story has sparked much praise amongst Hollywood. Martin Scorsese has signed back onto the production of The Wolf of Wall Street, starring Leonardo Dicaprio as Jordan Belfort. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Mr. Belfort because of his ability to constantly persevere through the obstacles and demons he had to face in his professional and personal life. Any man who can recreate his success in a multitude of industries is worthy of being called Elite.

Elite.