'Wolf Of Wall Street' inspiration Jordan Belfort told a 25-year old to quit their $60,000 job and 'think bigger' in a viral TikTok
- The real-life 'Wolf Of Wall Street' Jordan Belfort has gone viral on TikTok.
- In the video, he encourages a 25-year-old with a $60,000 job to resign in order to "get ahead."
The real-life "Wolf of Wall Street" is going viral on TikTok after appearing to advise a 25-year-old to quit their $60,00 salaried job.
In the video, which was posted on Tuesday, Jordan Belfort displayed a comment from a TikTok user with the handle @jakecorey, who asked, "What's your best advice to a 25-year-old that is working 9-5 making 60K a year?" Responding to the user, Belfort appeared to encourage them to leave their role. The video has amassed nearly 2 million views.
Belfort is a former stockbroker who served 22 months in prison after pleading guilty following an indictment for securities fraud and money laundering in 1999. In 2007, he released his memoir "The Wolf Of Wall Street." The book was adapted into a movie directed by Martin Scorsese in 2013, with Leonardo Di Caprio playing Belfort.
Since Belfort started posting on his TikTok account in 2019, he has amassed over 3 million followers and 55 million combined views on all videos. His content usually involves him answering questions from fans about his life and "The Wolf Of Wall Street" movie, as well as giving general advice about business and entrepreneurship. He has also collaborated with TikTok stars such as Bryce Hall.
In his TikTok response to Corey's question, Belfort said that the person with the $60,000 salary should "think bigger" and "get a better job."
"You're never gonna get rich, you're never gonna get ahead in life and have financial security working for someone else on a salary and punching a clock," he said. "Those are old thoughts implanted in our heads from the traditional school system"
Belfort said that by following the "traditional" system - which he describes as working for 30 years before retiring with a pension and social security - the person will "die or retire with no money and no independence."
He added that rather than "relying on people in the social system," the person should develop a "side hustle" by investing in real estate, stocks, or cryptocurrency.
Eventually, according to Belfort, the person in question should aim to focus on their side-hustle full-time. He added that the 25-year-old sticking with their job "is a dead-end way to live financially."
"You're not going to get ahead like this," he said, concluding the video.
In the comments section, many users said that Corey should ignore Belfort's advice because a $60,000 salary at 25 was lucrative, while several others said that Belfort shouldn't be giving job advice given his past. One top commenter on the post said, "$60K at 25 is good," while another tagged Corey directly to tell him not to quit his job based on Belfort's advice.
Some TikTok personalities with verified accounts also gave their perspective on Corey's question in the comments. Influencer Josh Ryan, who is part of the UK content collective Icon House, wrote, "Don't quit, save your money and then invest into something else and then slowly transition over to that and then quit."
TikTok comedian and cook Josh Durnion said in a comment that Belfort had "changed [his] mind in 40 seconds" and encouraged him to pursue TikTok full-time.
Befort and Corey did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
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