Tuesday, July 1, 2008

The Wolf of Wall Street

http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Wall-Street-Jordan-Belfort/dp/0553805460

I picked up the book thinking it would be a wonderful book giving me insights to "Wall Street". But sadly, it was a huge disappointment. The start of the book was okay. It did give chapters on how to motivate and lead and most importantly how to get unquestioned loyalty.

But as the book progressed, its a totally book about, as Jordan Belfort says, "The Lives of Rich and Dysfunctional". Nothing worth learning. Agreed, its a racy thriller and how he got into alcohol, drug abuse and prostituition and to leave it again for his family and then became a cocaine addict and paranoid and finally imprisoned for all his crimes. Also includes his very private affairs with wife (including making love in a store) - I just could not help but wonder about what kind of man can go into such details. Weird! Very Weird indeed!!!

Some things though keep you at edge of seat - like how he managed to smuggle money out of US and how the Swiss Banks work and you can make the money laundering look perfectly legal (Master Forger). Also how "ratholes" function and how loyalists can get backstab you if the money in play crosses eight digits (Steve Madden). And how you can kill a person's happines just by your connections and he will not ever suspect (Chinaman).

I was looking for more details on his business perspective and how he built his Stratton Oakmount empire. How he made money on penny stocks and he built his company just by selling and his charm. But this books starts where he has already built the empire and how he his wantoness destroyed it. Very disaapointing read! Not worth the money if you are looking out for a business biography. Pick it up if you are in mood to read a racy novel.

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