Jordan Belfort

 Belfort created Stratton Oakmont as a franchise of Stratton Securities, then later purchased the founder's shares. Stratton Oakmont was a boiler room where penny stocks were offered and investors deceived. In his time at Stratton, Belfort led a life of lavish parties and extensive consumption of recreational drugs, especially methaqualone, which he sold under the name "Quaalude"--that led to an addiction. [1][2121 Stratton Oakmont employed more than 1,000 stockbrokers at one time and was involved with securities transactions that reached over $1 billion. This included the initial public offering by Steve Madden's footwear company. The firm was frequently targeted by law enforcement officials throughout the course of its history, and its notoriety inspired the movie Boiler Room (2000),[22as well as the biopic The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).Stratton Oakmont was constantly under inspection by the National Association of Securities Dealers (now the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) from 1989 onward. Then, in December of 1996 the NASD expelled Stratton Oakmont, putting it out of business. [2323 Belfort was then indicted for money laundering and securities fraud in 1999.