What It Was Like Working For The Real Life 'Wolf Of Wall Street'
But before you see the Hollywood version, check out former Stratton employee Josh Shapiro's firsthand account of his time at the firm in today's New York Post.
The drugs, the scams, the prostitutes - it's all there, with a side of intense remorse.
Shapiro was a kid right out of the Marines when he joined the firm back in the 90s, now he's a physicians assistant. While was killing it at Stratton, he was driving a $70,000 car, but he didn't buy a single piece of property: "I didn't think it was ever going to end. Property? The future? No. The future was right here and now. "
He "spent his money as fast as he could get it," but left the firm just days before the FBI raided the place.
It's not hard to see how he got tired (from the NY Post):
The office was basically separated into two parts: the cold callers in the back, and the brokers in the front. The cold callers were dressed in Van Heusen shirts and ties - nothing too expensive. The guys in the front were sporting Armani, Boss, slicked back hair.
They'd give meetings in the back to the cold callers where they'd rip up $100 bills, throw them on the floor and tell them, "Do you want to be a loser all your life, or do you want to make something out of your life? Do you want to be rich?" The motivational meetings in the morning were incredible.
Porush gave meetings where he'd insult people, based on their performance.
He would say: "Doug, you sold 1,000 shares of stock in the last three weeks. You know, you should have slit your throat when you were shaving this morning."
He would come out at other times, completely stewed out of his mind on Quaaludes. Stand on the desk, then fall onto the floor. Or he would come out angry, pick up a computer - and these are the old CRT monitors - and smash it on the floor as hard as he possibly could. And be like, "You're all a bunch of f-?-king losers unless you push this f-?-king stock!"
Shapiro's account is definitely worth a full read, check it out at the NY Post>