The Wolf of Wall Street

Unraveling the influence it's had on the real business community.

If you are reading this article , you have probably watched the iconic Martin Scorsese directed film “The Wolf of Wall Street“, and possibly even enjoyed it. There is no doubt that Jordan Belfort’s extremist actions and wild journey throughout his career have added a certain entertainment value to the world of the stock market and investing. But while we can say it was enjoyable and amusing to watch, I can’t help but think of how it may have affected the real business industry, or even the overall economy of our world. After watching it quite a few times, for both pleasure and academic purposes, I identified a few positive and negative impacts and lessons given by the fictional adaptation of the true events that happened between 1987 and the early 2000s.

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To kick off my contemplation, I asked myself this question : What would have happened if Belfort didn’t take his greed and use it, if he just accepted his fate and remained a mere stockbroker at the small penny stock driven company he worked at ? Nothing. Nothing would have happened. And few are the people who will admit to themselves that greed isn’t a sin if used effectively. This mindset changed the young people who accepted it, the mindset of wanting to lead regardless of the circumstances. There is no doubt that many young entrepreneurs took The Wolf’s strategy as an example, not necessarily following it, but making their own, aiming high, and it has proven successful.

A great lesson the movie teaches is the concept of Supply & Demand. “Sell me this pen.” is the demand Jordan made to his prospective employees to prove if they are capable of manipulating someone into buying something they don’t need. The correct answer was “Why don’t you do me a favor and write down your name on that napkin right there.”, therefore creating demand and giving a competent reason as to why it should be bought. The power of communication is as important as any other in the industry; we see Jordan constantly networking with his partners throughout the movie, keeping his connections close in case he ever needs them, which he does when all of the unethical and illegal practices he was doing within the company were discovered by the authorities. If it wasn’t for his greed and possessiveness of his firm, the firm he built from the ground that was like his child, he could have easily avoided prison. But that is a lesson learned.

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As we all know, the main focus of the movie is its main character and his personal story. But a very important factor that was forcibly put in the background of the extravagant story is the inner workings of the economy and how corrupt and manipulated it truly was. For a film that is about the financial aspect of society, it does very little to address the underlying concerns of white-collar crime, and I believe that it could’ve had great potential to make a political-economic statement, but Scorsese decided to keep it a purely entertaining experience with no alternative goal whatsoever.

In conclusion, the film has had a great influence over the mindset of young entrepreneurs that want to take initiative like Jordan did, but the corruption poorly depicted failed to educate them on how things run in the real world of finance. I highly encourage every teenager interested in Business & Economics to watch “The Wolf of Wall Street” and take inspiration from Jordan’s drive for success and ambition to achieve goals that seem unimaginable,but they are really not.