A former employee of Wolf of Wall Street firm Stratton Oakmont explains what it was really like
Written by on January 8, 2023
A former employee from the infamous Wolf of Wall Street firm Stratton Oakmont is sharing stories from when he worked at the New York brokerage house.
The defunct company, founded by Jordan Belfort and Danny Porush (played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in the film), completely ceased operations in 1996 after it was discovered that they had defrauded shareholders.
But before it shut down, one of their employees was a young broker named Dwayne Jackson, who has since come out to speak about the ‘insane’ work culture he witnessed there.
Dwayne Jackson worked for Stratton Oakmont in his early 20s from March 1994 to October 1996 – just before the company went bust.
Explaining that he was ‘just a kid’ when he got the job there, Jackson said that he ‘didn’t know much about what [he] was selling’, and had no idea ‘what was going on in the back office’, but he still had some wild experiences while he worked there.
For starters, Dwayne, who has already provided his followers with proof that he used to work at Stratton Oakmont, has spoken about the inconceivable amount of money he used to make when he worked there.
The former broker recalled that his first pay-cheque from the company was in or around $11,000 (£9,000), which he used to buy himself a $1,000 (£800) phone and a beeper – before taking the bus home.
Despite the amount of money he and his colleagues made, Dwayne said that they were ‘pushed’ to spend it as quickly as they earned it.
“They had people who would come to the office and measure you and get you collared shirts,” he recalled, as well as a connection to a motorsports dealership that would sort out employees with the car of their choice.
“If you worked at Stratton, you could just call them and tell them that you wanted a car. You could pick it out… and they would just bring the car to you. If they knew you were a Stratton broker, they didn’t care.”
Recalling an experience he had with a manager – Dwayne recounted the moment he wondered what he had gotten himself into.
“One day it was a Jewish holiday and a lot of the Jewish guys in the office wanted to leave early, it was like a Friday,” he began.
“And he gave this huge speech – he was definitely high on something – about how we’re all stockbrokers and we’re all going to hell.
“He stood up on a desk and he held up his wallet in the air and he said, ‘Do you guys believe in God? This is God. My wallet is God. What I have in my wallet is God’.
“I, growing up as a church kid, saw him standing up on that desk and I thought for sure he was going to get struck by lightning.”
Despite what the film might have you think, Dwayne looks back on his time at Stratton Oakmont rather fondly, and tells followers that the experience taught him a lot.
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“I learned what I didn’t want, and that I didn’t want to be soulless and work to take people’s money”.
He continued: “Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun, I saw a lot of things, I learned a lot but… if you’re going to get into sales, find something that you like, something that you’re passionate about, and preferably something that helps people at the same time.
“I did things to people that they didn’t want to be done, or I forced them into stuff. But the karma comes back.”
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