Partying fraudsters Jho Low and Jordan Belfort ripped off thousands of people for millions—even billions (though in Jho Low’s case he has not actually been convicted and denies any wrongdoing). Claims against Low state that he found his illicit fortune through Malaysia’s 1MDB, a state-owned investment fund that diverted money to him, former prime minister Najib Razak and others. Meanwhile, Belfort’s brokerage Stratton Oakmont swindled by buying stocks low, pumping up the price, dumping them on investors and profiting from the inflated value. Low and Belfort are inextricably linked, but how do the crimes of which they have been accused actually compare?
Jordan Belfort
Courtesy of Shutterstock |
Jho Low
Courtesy of Shutterstock |
|---|---|
| A.K.A.
The Wolf of Wall Street |
A.K.A. The Billion-Dollar Whale |
| FIRST HUSTLE
Between high school and college he made a tidy $20,000 selling Italian ice on the beach. |
FIRST HUSTLE
He helped Kuwait buy an $87 million luxury high-rise in Kuala Lumpur. |
| HE STOLE HOW MUCH?
$200 million |
HE STOLE HOW MUCH?
$4.5 billion |
| FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“It was awful what I did, but I was under the influence of massive quantities of drugs.” |
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“I’ve nothing to hide.” |
| VALUE OF HIS OLD DIGS
$2.4 million for his Long Island mansion |
VALUE OF HIS OLD DIGS $24.5 million for his Hollywood Hill estate |
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WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS Belfort had his bachelor party at the Mirage Hotel in Vegas along with around 200 attendees. It got so out of hand that he had to pay to refurbish an entire floor afterward. |
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS A regular in Vegas, Low once celebrated the New Year’s Eve countdown twice: once in Sydney, then again in Vegas via private jet with Jamie Foxx, Jonah Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio and others. |
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JAIL TIME Twenty-two months. Belfort served in a minimum-security prison in California. |
JAIL TIME None. He faces eight counts, each with a maximum sentence of five years. |
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SUPERYACHT OF CHOICE Nadine (167ft)
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SUPERYACHT OF CHOICE Equanimity (300ft)
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KNOWS LEONARDO DiCAPRIO BECAUSE DiCaprio played Belfort in the biopic The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
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KNOWS LEONARDO DiCAPRIO BECAUSE Low helped fund The Wolf of Wall Street. He claims he helped DiCaprio, a friend of his, secure the role.
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DOWNFALL After years of scrutiny, the National Association of Securities Dealers finally shut down Stratton Oakmont down in 1996. |
DOWNFALL Xavier Justo leaked to the press 230,000 e-mails from his former employer PetroSaudi, exposing 1MDB. |
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Current Net Worth $100 million |
Current Net Worth $150 million |
| DID HE PAY IT ALL BACK
Nope. Since his 2003 sentencing, Belfort still owes about $97 million in reparations. |
DID HE PAY IT ALL BACK
No, he settled with the US in a $700 million deal that will drop the government’s case against him. |
| WHERE ARE THEY NOW
Belfort travels the world as a motivational speaker. |
WHERE ARE THEY NOW
Who knows? A fugitive, he’s believed to be hiding out in China. |
