Jordan Belfort Net Worth: The Wolf of Wall Street in Real Life

Jordan Belfort Biography

Early Life and Educational Background of Jordan Belfort

Jordan Belfort was born in the Brox, New York City to accountant parents, Maxwell Belfort and Leah. But, he was raised in Queens, New York in his childhood. After completing his high school education, Belfort and his childhood friend Elliot Loewenstern made a significant $20,000 by selling Italian ice at a local beach. We can see that his entrepreneurial spirit has been active since his young years itself.

Later, Belfort graduated from American University with a Bachelor of Science degree specializing in biology. He planned to use the money he made by selling ice at the local beach to pay for dental school. Even though enrolled at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, he didn’t pursue the course.

The major reason behind his change of plans is that his dean stated that the dental school is not the place to make a lot of money. Otherwise, Belfort wouldn’t have entered the stock market industry and become what he is known today, “The Wolf of Wall Street”.

Career Journey of Jordan Belfort As a Stock Broker

Jordan Belfort began his career by selling meat and seafood on Long Island in New York. Even though he scaled this business and made profits, he had to file a bankruptcy. That’s when his career as a trainee stockbroker started at L.F. Rothschild investment banking firm. However, he was one of the employees who got laid off when the company faced financial difficulties.

Later, Jordan Belfot founded Stratton Oakmont as a franchise of Stratton Securities. The company got a name for itself for promoting penny stocks and manipulating investors with pump-and-dump schemes. Jordan made huge profits and led a luxurious life and eventually became a drug addict. He scaled the business and even 1,000 stock brokers at one point.

However, it all came crashing down when the company was targeted by law enforcement officials. The National Association of Securities Dealers finally expelled Stratton Oakmont in 1996 and Belfort was indicted for fraud and money laundering in 1999.

In 2003, Belfort served 22 months of imprisonment even though the actual sentence was 4 years in exchange for a plea deal with the FBI. He was even ordered to pay 50% of the restitution to 1,513 victims who suffered losses.

Jordan Belfort is one among the people who mocked Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in the early years. However, as the industry grew and the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed, he changed his view towards cryptocurrencies. He expressed his interest in crypto saying that he is looking forward to the regulation of the industry. While there is no proper information regarding  his cryptocurrency investments, he is an investor of several crypto start-ups.

Jordan Belfort As Author and Motivational Speaker

With the encouragement of his prison roommate Tommy Chong, Jordan Belfort wrote two memoirs titled “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Catching of The Wolf of Wall Street”. Both became highly successful and popular and are published in 18 languages across 40 countries.

“The Wolf of Wall Street” film is based on his book, in which Leonardo DiCaprio played the role of Belfort. Later, he continued his journey as an author and wrote the book, “Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling: Master the Art of Persuasion, Influence, and Success”.

Belfort is also famously known for his motivational speeches regarding sales techniques. Even though he first started with motivation and ethics-focused speeches, he started giving his wisdom of making sales later through his speeches and seminars. “The Straight Line System” is Jordan Belfort’s popular sales advice.

Jordan Belfort Net Worth and Properties

The net worth of Jordan Belfort is estimated to be around $115 million in 2024, as per CA Knowledge. However, some sources suggest that it could be in between $100 and $200 million.

When Jordan Belfort was at the peak of his career, his net worth went to as high as around $400 million. Similar to the life journey of Jordan, the graph of his net worth has also gone on a roller coaster ride. He filed for bankruptcy when he pleaded guilty of committing various frauds regarding stock market manipulation. But, he bounced back, building a net worth of more than $100 million.

Jordan Belfort holds a wide range of assets in his portfolio. His possessions include 12 real estate properties, 3 yachts, and 9 automobiles. The automobile collection of Jordan Belfort consists of Lexus ES worth $135,000, a Ferrari Portofino worth $700,000, a Bugatti Chiron worth $3 million, an Alfa Romeo Giulia worth $90,000, and a Jaguar XE worth $125,000.

In addition to all these properties, Belfort also holds some of his net worth in terms of cash reserves and stock investments. Another significant source of his wealth is his book sales. Both “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Catching of The Wolf of Wall Street” became very popular memoirs and generated millions of worth sales. Belfort has also invested in several cryptocurrency startups.

Personal Life of Jordan Belfort

Jordan Belfort was married to Denise Lombardo in 1985 and divorced in 1991 when he was building Stratton Oakmont. As it was written and shown in “ The Wolf of Wall Street”, he married a British-born and Brooklyn-raised model, Nadine Caridi after meeting her in a party. The couple has two children, Chandler Belfort and Carter Belfort.

However, when Jordan Belfort’s life was going down with claims of drug addiction and infidelity, the couple got separated in 2005. The present wife of Jordan Belfort is Cristina Invernizzi and they married recently in 2021. Apart from being a well-known stock broker, author, and motivational speaker, Jordan is an avid tennis player.

One of his luxury yachts is named after his second wife Caridi and it was built for Coco Chanel in 1961. However, it sank off the east coast of Sardinia when Belfort insisted on going against high winds.