Featured Image Credit: REUTERS/Entertainment Pictures/Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: Money, True Crime, Leonardo DiCaprio
Harley Young
Topics: Money, True Crime, Leonardo DiCaprio
Jordan Belfort, more commonly known as 'The Wolf of Wall Street', is famous for his groundbreaking and incredibly persuasive sales tactics.
However, his participation in a penny-stock scam in the 1990s eventually led to his arrest for stock-market manipulation.
Belfort and his associate, Danny Porush, were found guilty of money laundering and fraudulent activity in 1999, costing investors in the scheme up to $200 million. This lead to Belfort's conviction of four years imprisonment, serving a total of 22 months which he has now opened up about in a chat with Logan Paul's IMPAULSIVE podcast.
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"When I went into jail, my bunkmate it turns out, was Tommy Chong from Cheech and Chong. That was just, yeah, by luck." Belfort explains to the room of podcasters interviewing him, who responded evidently shocked.
"So they put us together because we were both, like, well-known public figures," continues Belfort "There's nothing much to do in jail but tell stories, right? So I'm telling Tommy stories and he's rolling on the floor [and] after a few days he says 'Dude, I thought you were making this sh*t up but my wife Googled you - it's all true'."
Belfort goes on to say how Chong told him he's 'gotta write a book', which he now has done three times over.
"I didn't think my life was even exciting." says Belfort, humbly.
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The story of Belfort's rise and fall was depicted in the 2013 biographical drama, The Wolf of Wall Street, filmed by award-winning director Martin Scorsese, in which Belfort's character was played by none other than American acting star, Leonardo DiCaprio.
The gritty-yet-comedic movie went on to receive various awards and nominations for it's brutally honest and downright wild depiction, including the MTV Movie Award for Best Gut-Wrenching Performance and AFI Movies of the Year.
Belfort revealed in an interview with Hollywood Reporter in 2014 that his life of sex and drugs was 'even worse' than portrayed in the film.
Commenting on DiCaprio's performance of himself, Belfort said: "I was blown away. The way he was able to capture my energy, especially during the sales scenes and the speeches.
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“He didn’t try to duplicate my voice as much as my mannerisms, my tonalities and my gestures."
As of today, Belfort is currently travelling the world as a motivational speaker, sharing his tips for success as well as his life story as a 'cautionary tale' to young people with big financial ambitions.