Jordan Belfort is best known for his best selling 2007 Wolf of Wall Street memoir that was later turned into a blockbuster movie with the same name that starred Leo DiCaprio. He was a former stockbroker that had a very successful career getting customers to buy low float stocks. He was not a trader, he made his money from commissions and pump and dump schemes. Belfort founded Stratton Oakmont and it became so notorious it is said to have inspired the film Boiler Room in 2000. He pled guilty to fraud and other crimes involving stock market manipulation of penny stocks. He is now a convicted felon who spent 22 months in jail of a four year sentence as part of a plea deal to give testimony on other partners and subordinates in his fraud case.
The court believed that the penny stock pump-and-dump scams which he operated led to customer losses of approximately $200 million. Jordan Belfort was ordered to personally pay back $110.4 million in losses to the stock buyers. He left prison with over a -$110 million negative net worth.
Belfort’s mandated restitution requires him to pay 50% of his future income to the 1,513 clients he is said to have defrauded until 2009, with a total of $110 million ordered to be paid to victims. Approximately $10 million was already recovered for the victims by 2013 from the sale of his forfeited properties. Leaving him owing approximately $100 million at that point.
Jordan Belfort currently makes a living as a motivational speaker with his focus on sales skills and entrepreneurship.
The current Jordan Belfort net worth in 2021 is thought to be approximately negative -$100 million in debt due to the judgement of restitution to his previous customers. This does not count the amount of restitution he has paid up to this point.
