TIME has fact-checked Jordan Belfort’s memoir “The Wolf of Wall Street” against Scorsese’s raucous new comedy–and for the most part, what you see in movie is the real story. Or, at any rate, the story according to Belfort, who details his wildly excessive drug use, promiscuous sex and stock market manipulation in his 2007 autobiography. Highlights from the TIME story below.
Belfort’s first boss told him the keys to success were masturbation, cocaine and hookers.
Ruling: Fact
According to the book, a broker named Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey) gave him this advice early on in his career.
Belfort and his partner owned shares of a risky stock, had their brokers at Stratton Oakmont brokerage aggressively sell the stock to inflate the price. They then sold the stock themselves to turn a profit.
Ruling: Fact
Belfort and Danny Porush (called Donnie Azoff in the film and portrayed by Jonah Hill) utilized this age-old pump-and-dump scheme to get rich quick after graduating from scamming middle-class people into buying worthless penny stocks at a 50 percent commission.
The driving on quaaludes scene.
Ruling: Mostly fact
It was a Mercedes, not a Lamborghini. But the rest is true to Belfort’s memoir.
He crashed a helicopter in his front yard while high.
Ruling: Fact
On a related note, he also did at least attempt to sober up in real life.
He sank a yacht in Italy.
Ruling: Fact
And the yacht used to belong to Coco Chanel.
Read the full story here. Our review of the film is here.
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