Successful Business on The Example of Jordan Belfort - a Representative of Generation Z

“If you want to be rich, never give up. People tend to give up. If you have persistence, you will come out ahead of most people. More importantly, you will learn. When you do something, you might fail. But that’s not because you’re a failure.” - Jordan Belfort, the year was 1999, and he was just sentenced to four years in prison and charged with a one hundred and ten million dollar fine from his own profits. Jordan Belfort was a stockbroker who created his own firm which made millions defrauding its customers. Belfort was committed to his craft and he was good at it, but he did it all while still having fun and living life to the fullest.

Jordan Belfort is the perfect person to represent Generation Z because he made a lot of money illegally and was thrown in jail for it, then while in jail he begins to write and develop as a better person, and now on the outside he is an author and an advocate for healthy business practices. While Jordan Belfort was a successful entrepreneur and stockbroker who made a lot of money in the business that he found himself in, just about everything he was doing was morally wrong and illegal, however, he did not seem to care at the time. Jordan was willing to do whatever it took to become rich. What started out as a typical career as a stockbroker for Belfort, quickly turned for the worst when he met a man named Mark Hanna who was Belfort’s first real meeting of a senior stock broker who taught him the ways to make money in the industry. Jordan was a money crazed young individual, who wanted nothing more than to be rich.

By the age of McHaney 2 twenty-six, the stockbroker turned con artist was making fifty million dollars per year selling penny stocks to middle and lower-class individuals and pitching them as if they would make the buyers rich. Jordan Belfort used the scheme named “pump and dump” which was when he would pump up a stock that he secretly owned through his nominees and then after the stock had raised in value he would dump the stock in order to make his profits. He was also involved in insider trading through his purchase of the company Steve Madden just before the company made its public offering. Generation Z is tied to this belief of a quick fix to getting rich that Jordan Belfort was high on. Belfort was doing whatever it took to make a quick buck and the current generation is willing to do the same.

In the nineties, Belfort’s moral compass was a little off. He would have celebrations with strippers and drugs in the office. He would make employees do things that they would not want to do for the simple reasoning to teach them a lesson or for the offices enjoyment. For example Belfort was once reported giving a worker five-thousand dollars to shave her head so that she could get reconstructive surgery. He was also said to host meetings where he and his coworkers would take turns tossing a midget at a bullseye. He also smuggled millions of dollars out of the United States and into a foreign country. During the time that Belfort was smooth sailing with money coming in left and right, he illegally made one hundred and ten million dollars of other people’s money. Belfort’s morals were off, but right in line with him is Generation Z. This Generation has no morals and is willing to do whatever it takes to have fun and make money. Jordan Belfort is a perfect example of how the want of more money. He is also an example of how the need to have a good time is taking over the current generation and is spreading rapidly.

Jordan Belfort is the perfect representative of Generation Z because of his wants, desires, and the fact that he was willing to do whatever it took to get rich. Jordan wanted to get rich so badly that he was willing to put himself through college and also sell ice cream on the beach for a little bit of extra cash. Jordan was also known to have gone door to door selling meat for extra money. These qualities are shared with Generation Z, even though they may have lesser then great morals, they are willing to work hard to get what they want. It is never too late for one to change their ways and become a new and better person or group. Jordan Belfort was able to change on the inside of the jail cell through writing. He began to write books on his experiences and how businesses should be run and he also became an advocate for healthy business practices. As Jordan was able to turn his outlook on business and life around, as can the current generation. It is never late to change their money hungry and immoral ways to find new and better outlooks on life.

Jordan Belfort above all else knew what he wanted out of life and most would agree that Generation Z for the most part, all want the same thing. What Jordan wanted was to make money, provide for himself and his wife, and to have fun while doing so. Through Jordan’s acts we see a clear image of what he wanted. He wanted to be rich so badly that he was willing to break the law to do so. He wanted to provide for his family so badly that he was willing to work in a hole in the wall penny stock brokerage to make money. Jordan Belfort was obviously into making life fun and not so serious as one can tell through his many nights of partying with strippers, drugs, and other illegal events. While not always on the same level as Belfort, Generation Z has some of the same wants and desires in life. They strive to make money and also want to have lots of fun while doing so.