Stratton Oakmont

Stratton Oakmont Inc
Brokerage House
Industry Investment banking, stock exchange
Founded 1985
Founder Jordan Belfort
Defunct 1996
Headquarters Long Island, New York, United States
Area served
 United States
Key people
Revenue 49,000,000

Stratton Oakmont, Inc. was a Long Island, New York, "over-the-counter" brokerage house known primarily for the defrauding of many shareholders eventually leading to the downfall of several executives and the closing of the firm.

History

While Jordan Belfort is widely accepted as being the primary founder, some sources hold that Danny Porush was a lone co-founder while other sources state Belfort and Porush were just two of many co-founders. Still other sources claim that Belfort was hired, and then with partners bought-out, an original founder/owner.[1] Stratton Oakmont was the largest OTC firm in the country during the late 1980s and 1990s. The firm was responsible for the initial public offering of 35 companies, including Steve Madden Ltd., Hemesphere Biopharma, Dualstar Technologies, D.V.I. Financial, Paramount Financial, M. H Meyerson & Co., Czech Industries, M.V.S.I. Technology, Questron Technologies, and Etel Communications.

Stratton Oakmont did not have a Product control function to price-verify positions and monitor trading activity.

Stratton Oakmont participated in pump and dump schemes, a form of microcap stock fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned stock through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased stock at a higher price. Once the operators of the scheme "dump" their overvalued shares, the price falls and investors lose their money. Stratton Oakmont would also try to maintain the price of a stock by refusing to accept or process orders to sell the stock.[2] Stocks that are the subject of pump and dump schemes are sometimes called "chop stocks".[3]

In 1995, the firm sued Prodigy Services Co. for libel in a New York court, in a case that had wide legal implications.[4]

The firm was the subject of numerous disciplinary actions brought by the NASD beginning in 1989.[5] The firm was shut down in 1996, and in 1998 Belfort and Porush were indicted for securities fraud and money laundering.[6]

The Wolf of Wall Street

The 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Street is a drama based on the memoirs of Jordan Belfort, directed by Martin Scorsese. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Jordan Belfort[7] and Jonah Hill plays fictional character Donnie Azoff,[8] who is loosely based on Danny Porush.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Haglund, David (December 31, 2013). "How Accurate Is The Wolf of Wall Street?". Slate. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
  2. ↑ Mulligan, Thomas S. (April 17, 1997). "Investor Wins $10 Million in Penny-Stock Broker Case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
  3. ↑ "Pump and Dump Schemes". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 12, 2001.
  4. ↑ Stratton Oakmont, Inc. v. Prodigy Services Co., No. 31063/94, 1995 WL 323710, 1995 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 229 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1995).
  5. ↑ "NASD Regulation Expels Stratton Oakmont; Principals Also Barred". FINRA. December 5, 1996. Retrieved 2015-01-11.
  6. ↑ Stefania Bianchi; Mahmoud Habboush (19 May 2014). "Wolf of Wall Street Belfort Is Aiming for $100 Million Pay". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Nashawaty, Chris (17 February 2011). "Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese teaming up again for 'The Wolf of Wall Street. '". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  8. ↑ Sacks, Ethan (June 17, 2013). "'The Wolf of Wall Street' Trailer Released Shows Leonardo DiCaprio at Debaucherous Best". NYDailyNews.com. Daily News, LP. Retrieved June 19, 2013.