| Full Name: | Jordan Ross Belfort |
| Net Worth: | $100 million |
| Birthdate: | July 9, 1962 |
| Birthplace: | The Bronx, New York City, USA |
| Occupation: | Author, motivational speaker, former stockbroker |
| Known for: | His memoir “The Wolf of Wall Street” and the movie adaptation, his involvement in securities fraud at Stratton Oakmont |
| Education: | American University, University of Maryland (attended but did not graduate) |
| Spouse: | Nadine Caridi (m. 1991; div. 2005), Anne Koppe (m. 2017) |
| Children: | Carter Belfort, Chandler Belfort |
| Website: | https://www.jordanbelfort.com/ |
| Twitter: | @wolfofwallst |
| Instagram: | @wolfofwallst |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/jordanbelfort |
Have you ever wondered what the net worth of Jordan Belfort is? Well, as the founder of the corporation Stratton Oakmont and author of the memoir The Wolf of Wall Street he has made quite the name for himself.
The book has been adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort.
As of May 2023, Jordan Belfort has a net worth of $100 million. In this post, we look at Jordan Belfort’s life, career, and current net worth.
Table of Contents
Early Life
Jordan Belfort was born in The Bronx, New York, on July 9, 1962. Max and Leah Belfort, his parents, were both accountants. Jordan bounced around a lot as a child.
He grew up in Queens, New York but he and his family relocated to Long Island when he was ten years old.
Jordan was always entrepreneurial. Before attending college, he and his boyhood friend Elliot Loewenstern made $20,000 selling Italian ice from plastic coolers at their local beach. Jordan recalls this as the first time he learned how to sell.
Belfort intended to use the funds to go to dental school, and he enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry.
However, he would end up dropping out after the school dean told him: “The golden era of dentistry has come to an end. If you’ve come here solely to make a lot of money, you’ve come to the wrong place.”
After that, Belfort attended American University in Washington, D.C., but dropped out after one semester. He later returned to New York City and found work in Long Island as a door-to-door meat and seafood salesperson.
He claims that his meat-selling business was initially a success, with him employing numerous staff and selling 5,000 pounds of beef and fish every week. The business, however, failed, and Belfort declared bankruptcy at the age of 25.
According to his memoirs and interviews, a family acquaintance assisted him in getting a job at L.F. Rothschild as a trainee stockbroker after his business failure. However, he was promptly fired once the firm suffered significant losses during the 1987 stock market crisis.
Starting Stratton Oakmont
The net worth of Jordan Belfort would eventually explode when he and his colleague, Daniel Porush, founded Stratton Oakmont, a penny stock brokerage firm, in 1989.
The company was based in Long Island’s Lake Success. The company used aggressive sales tactics to convince people to invest in penny stocks, which are stocks that trade for less than $5 per share.
These penny stock recommendations would be used by Belfort to defraud investors through pump-and-dump stock sales (artificially increasing the price of an owned stock through false and deceptive positive remarks).
The business was a huge success; by 1996, it was bringing in $100 million a year. Belfort began living a luxury lifestyle in the early 1990s, including buying costly vehicles, mansions, drugs, and prostitutes.
Stratton Oakmont by this point employed over 1,000 brokers and was involved in over $1 billion in stock offerings! The firm even had its own “Strattonites” in-house training program, which produced some of Wall Street’s most successful stockbrokers.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had been closely monitoring Stratton Oakmont since its foundation due to suspicion of fraudulent activity. In 1996, the SEC would shut down Stratton Oakmont for securities fraud after an undercover investigation.
After the SEC shut down Stratton Oakmont, Jordan Belfort was indicted for securities fraud and money laundering in 1999. He pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the FBI in their investigation of other members of Stratton Oakmont. This resulted in the convictions of some of his friends and colleagues.
He was, however, condemned to four years in prison and compelled to make restitution of $110 million. Since he has only paid back $10 million, the net worth of Jordan Belfort is only negative $100 million.
Writing Wolf Of Wall Street
Belfort was sentenced to 22 months in prison for his crimes. While in prison, Belfort shared a cell with Tommy Chong. Chong pushed him to write about his stockbroker experiences saying that his story should be documented.
Belfort would go on to write the memoir The Wolf of Wall Street while in prison, which was published in 2007. The book was eventually made into a 2013 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Belfort, directed by Martin Scorsese.
The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and grossed over $392 million worldwide.
Life After Prison
After prison, Belfort found a new professional path as a motivational speaker and writer. He’s also launched a business coaching program called The Jordan Belfort Blueprint and authored another book called Catching the Wolf of Wall Street.
He gave a TEDx Talk in Dubai in 2014 called “From thief to millionaire… to giving back,” in which he discussed his transformation from criminal to motivational speaker. During his speech, he stated:
“I got greedy. … 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. Ninety-five percent of the business world is run by reactive instead of proactive people.”
Jordan Belfort Quotes
“Successful people are not gifted; they just work hard, then succeed on purpose.”
“The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”
“If you don’t see yourself as a winner, then you cannot perform as a winner.”
“Winners embrace hard work. They love the discipline of it, the trade-off they’re making to win. Losers, on the other hand, see it as torture only to be avoided. Losers are filled with excuses as to why they cannot or will not do certain things.”
“It’s not about working hard; it’s about working smart.”
“I’m not saying that hard work isn’t important. It is! But there’s a difference between working hard and working smart.”
Jordan Belfort Net Worth Growth
| Year | Net Worth | Source of Income/Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | -$250,000 | Started as a stockbroker |
| 1990 | $1 million | Sales skills, commissions |
| 1993 | $50 million | Stratton Oakmont, securities fraud, illegal activities |
| 1999 | -$100 million | Convicted, fines and legal fees |
| 2005 | -$2 million | Release from prison, book sales |
| 2010 | -$100,000 | Movie rights and royalties |
| 2022 | $100 million | Speaking engagements, consulting, royalties |
Jordan Belfort Net Worth 2023
As of May 2023, the net worth of Jordan Belfort is $100 million. Belfort has been able to use his story to motivational effect and has earned millions of dollars through speaking engagements, book royalties, and the Wolf Of Wall Street movie.
He’s also made significant money through his business coaching program, The Jordan Belfort Blueprint.
Forbes has even estimated that Belfort has made as much as $60 million since leaving prison.
Even though Belfort may technically be broke, he is still living a very comfortable lifestyle and can afford to travel the world and live in a luxury apartment in Manhattan.
Key Takeaways
Fraud can only work for so long
As we can see from Jordan Belfort’s story, crime does not pay. He was able to make a fortune through stock fraud, but eventually got caught, had to return over a hundred million dollars, and had to serve time in prison.
You can always rebrand yourself
Since his release, he has been working as a motivational speaker and writer, teaching others about the dangers of crime and how to make money ethically.
He is now a multi-million dollar entrepreneur all over again, but without breaking any laws this time.
Money can’t buy happiness
Jordan Belfort’s story is a cautionary tale of what can happen when you get too greedy. Even though he was able to make hundreds of millions of dollars through illegal means, it ultimately led to his downfall.
He now has to live with the consequences of his actions and is not able to enjoy his wealth the way he could have if he had not committed any crimes.