The former head of the investment firm Stratton Oakmont describes the rise and fall of his financial empire, his life of glamour and excess, and the scandal that destroyed his empire, sent him to prison, and sparked his drug abuse.

Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort. From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late '80s. Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title 'The Wolf of Wall Street.'.