In the early 1980s, 19-year-old Jordan Belfort — who would go on to become known as the Wolf of Wall Street, a title he bestowed on himself in a tell-all memoir — had a fortuitous encounter on Jones Beach, on Long Island, with another teenager selling ice cream named Stephen Drescher.
The two became friends.
Prosecutors would later note their shared hustling spirit, a drive for entrepreneurialism that curdled into a drive for grift.
Within a few years, Mr. Belfort started building a pump-and-dump stock-scam empire.
Mr. Drescher went down not long after, convicted of securities fraud and sent to federal prison for nearly four years.
Persons:
Jordan Belfort —, —, Stephen Drescher, Belfort, Drescher, Martin, Mr
Organizations:
Prosecutors
Locations:
Jones, Long, Martin Scorsese’s