In 1987 New York City, newlywed Jordan Belfort, an aspiring millionaire, arrives for his first day of work at a Wall Street stock brokerage firm, only to learn that he will be relegated to transferring telephone calls. However, executive Mark Hanna takes a liking to the boy and invites him to lunch, where he advises Jordan to be ruthless, and to stoke his insatiable greed with sex and cocaine. Jordan follows orders, earns his brokerage license, and is soon promoted, but he loses his job on 19 October 1987, Black Monday, when international stock markets crash and the firm is forced to close. Jordan scours classified advertisements for work, convinced that he has no future as a stockbroker, but his wife, Teresa Petrillo, points out a listing for an “Investor Center” in Long Island. There, Jordan discovers a rudimentary boiler room of charlatans, selling “penny stock” investments to gullible Americans of modest means. Delighted to learn of the brokers’ fifty percent commission, Jordan uses his oratory skills and aggressive salesmanship to amass a fortune. He is befriended by a crude but ambitious neighbor named Donnie Azoff, and they establish their own firm, hiring Donnie’s drug-dealer friends as brokers. Jordan coaches the rogues to be effective salesmen, challenging them to sell him a writing pen, but they lack charisma, and are incapable of transforming a mundane tool into an object of desire. Business falters until Jordan changes the name of the firm to “Stratton Oakmont,” declaring that consumer trust is the key to securing investments. Following Jordan’s dictates, Stratton Oakmont grows into a billion dollar company by skimming large commissions from faulty investments and “pump and dump” schemes, where inexpensive stock prices are artificially inflated. Jordan hires his father, “Mad” Max Belfort, to add integrity to the operation while fueling his employees’ money lust with drugs and decadent orgies. With his own voracity for sex, cocaine, and Quaaludes, Jordan becomes increasingly frenzied and adulterous. Hosting one of many parties at his Long Island mansion, Jordan meets a young blonde named Naomi Lapaglia and becomes intent on possessing her, but she is covetous of his fortune and offers herself freely. When Jordan’s wife, Teresa, finds him snorting cocaine from Naomi’s breasts in his limousine, he is unable to deny his love for his mistress, and soon files for divorce. After proposing to Naomi and throwing himself a $2 million bachelor party, Jordan hosts a raucous wedding in the Bahamas, where he meets Naomi’s favorite aunt, a Londoner named Emma. The Belforts acquire an even larger mansion, have a daughter, Skylar, and continue their debauchery, but Naomi is displeased by Jordan’s infidelity and taunts him with her sexuality. Meanwhile, FBI agent Patrick Denham investigates Stratton Oakmont, hoping to combat Wall Street securities fraud operations. With the encouragement of his lawyer, Jordan and his cronies, including Donnie, ingest copious amounts of drugs and travel to Switzerland, where they meet banker Jean Jacques Saurel to open an account that is sheltered from U.S. law and FBI inquisition. When Jordan learns that the account must be established in the name of a non-American, he flies to London, England, and convinces Naomi’s aunt, Emma, to lend her identity. Although Emma successfully smuggles cash into Switzerland inside her luggage, Jordan and Donnie’s cash on hand is so enormous that he is forced to recruit other European smugglers, including the girl friend of Brad Bodnick, one of Stratton Oakmont’s first outlaw associates. As hostilities over the cash transactions intensify between Donnie and Brad, the men argue in a shopping mall parking lot and Brad is arrested. That evening, Donnie brings Jordan rare and potent “Lemmon” Quaaludes, hoping to appease his companion before he learns about Brad’s detainment. When the first pill does not take effect, the men swallow increasing numbers of the capsules, and Jordan receives a telephone call from his lawyer, ordering him to call back from a payphone. Still sober, Jordan drives his Lamborghini to a nearby country club and phones the attorney, who reports Brad’s arrest and warns Jordan that his home is now under surveillance. Just then, the Quaaludes take effect, and Jordan is neither able to talk nor walk. After dragging himself back to the Lamborghini, he receives a car phone call from Naomi, who complains that Donnie is intoxicated and making illogical transactions over the phone with Saurel, the Swiss banker. Fearing Donnie’s conversation will provide evidence to the FBI, Jordan navigates home in a drug-induced stupor and disconnects his friend from the telephone. Just then, Donnie chokes on a piece of deli meat. Jordan struggles to remain conscious, resuscitates himself with cocaine, and performs the Heimlich maneuver to save his partner. Sometime later, in an effort to withdraw from FBI surveillance, the two men take their wives to Italy on the Naomi, a 167-foot yacht Jordan purchased for his wife as a wedding present. There, they learn that Aunt Emma died, and Jordan is wrought with anxiety about the multi-million dollar Swiss bank account in her name. Despite the yacht captain’s warning of a pending storm, Jordan orders the Naomi to head for Monaco, so he can get to Switzerland without delay. That night, the yacht encounters perilous waves. Although all on board are saved, the Naomi sinks, and the airplane that Jordan charters for Switzerland explodes just before landing to collect him, killing three people. The collective near-death experiences inspire Jordan to become sober, and he establishes a “self-help” financial coaching service, pledging to make other people rich. During the filming of an infomercial, Jordan is arrested by Agent Denham; Jordan’s Swiss banker, Saurel, revealed evidence against Stratton Oakmont to the FBI when he was exposed for participation in another scheme. Although Jordan pays bail, he is disheartened by his home detention, and hopes to minimize his impending prison sentence by cooperating with the FBI and wearing a wiretap to incriminate his associates. During his next encounter with Donnie, however, Jordan secretly passes his friend a note, warning him that he is under surveillance. That evening, Jordan appeals to Naomi for sex, assuring her that he will only be in prison a short time, and will retain his fortune. Naomi is loath to accept Jordan’s failures and refuses his advances, but he forces himself upon her and she orders him to have sex as if it was their final encounter. When Jordan satisfies himself, Naomi announces her plan for divorce, with full custody of Skylar and their second child. Outraged, Jordan retrieves a stash of cocaine hidden in his sofa, breaks his sobriety, and collects young Skylar from her bedroom. As Naomi struggles to defend the child, Jordan beats his wife, forces Skylar into his Mercedes, and reverses the vehicle into a wall, but he and the girl are physically unharmed. In the morning, Jordan awakens to an empty bed, and his maid announces visitors. Agent Denham wields the illicit warning note that Jordan gave Donnie the day before, revealing that Donnie was also in cahoots with the FBI, but failed to offer Jordan the same caution. Betrayed by his best friend, and deprived of his family, Jordan finally capitulates to the FBI, and a raid at Stratton Oakmont ensues. After serving twenty-two months of his three-year sentence in a Nevada prison, Jordan continues his career as a motivational speaker, challenging audiences to invent spontaneous sales pitches for a simple writing pen.

In 1987 New York City, newlywed Jordan Belfort, an aspiring millionaire, arrives for his first day of work at a Wall Street stock brokerage firm, only to learn that he will be relegated to transferring telephone calls. However, executive Mark Hanna takes a liking to the boy and invites him to lunch, where he advises Jordan to be ruthless, and to stoke his insatiable greed with sex and cocaine. Jordan follows orders, earns his brokerage license, and is soon promoted, but he loses his job on 19 October 1987, Black Monday, when international stock markets crash and the firm is forced to close. Jordan scours classified advertisements for work, convinced that he has no future as a stockbroker, but his wife, Teresa Petrillo, points out a listing for an “Investor Center” in Long Island. There, Jordan discovers a rudimentary boiler room of charlatans, selling “penny stock” investments to gullible Americans of modest means. Delighted to learn of the brokers’ fifty percent commission, Jordan uses his oratory skills and aggressive salesmanship to amass a fortune. He is befriended by a crude but ambitious neighbor named Donnie Azoff, and they establish their own firm, hiring Donnie’s drug-dealer friends as brokers. Jordan coaches the rogues to be effective salesmen, challenging them to sell him a writing pen, but they lack charisma, and are incapable of transforming a mundane tool into an object of desire. Business falters until Jordan changes the name of the firm to “Stratton Oakmont,” declaring that consumer trust is the key to securing investments. Following Jordan’s dictates, Stratton Oakmont grows into a billion dollar company by skimming large commissions from faulty investments and “pump and dump” schemes, where inexpensive stock prices are artificially inflated. Jordan hires his father, “Mad” Max Belfort, to add integrity to the operation while fueling his employees’ money lust with drugs and decadent orgies. With his own voracity for sex, cocaine, and Quaaludes, Jordan becomes increasingly frenzied and adulterous. Hosting one of many parties at his Long Island mansion, Jordan meets a young blonde named Naomi Lapaglia and becomes intent on possessing her, but she is covetous of his fortune and offers herself freely. When Jordan’s wife, Teresa, finds him snorting cocaine from Naomi’s breasts in his limousine, he is unable to deny his love for his mistress, and soon files for divorce. After proposing to Naomi and throwing himself a $2 million bachelor party, Jordan hosts a raucous wedding in the Bahamas, where he meets Naomi’s favorite aunt, a Londoner named Emma. The Belforts acquire an even larger mansion, have a daughter, Skylar, and continue their debauchery, but Naomi is displeased by Jordan’s infidelity and taunts him with her sexuality. Meanwhile, FBI agent Patrick Denham investigates Stratton Oakmont, hoping to combat Wall Street securities fraud operations. With the encouragement of his lawyer, Jordan and his cronies, including Donnie, ingest copious amounts of drugs and travel to Switzerland, where they meet banker Jean Jacques Saurel to open an account that is sheltered from U.S. law and FBI inquisition. When Jordan learns that the account must be established in the name of a non-American, he flies to London, England, and convinces Naomi’s aunt, Emma, to lend her identity. Although Emma successfully smuggles cash into Switzerland inside her luggage, Jordan and Donnie’s cash on hand is so enormous that he is forced to recruit other European smugglers, including the girl friend of Brad Bodnick, one of Stratton Oakmont’s first outlaw associates. As hostilities over the cash transactions intensify between Donnie and Brad, the men argue in a shopping mall parking lot and Brad is arrested. That evening, Donnie brings Jordan rare and potent “Lemmon” Quaaludes, hoping to appease his companion before he learns about Brad’s detainment. When the first pill does not take effect, the men swallow increasing numbers of the capsules, and Jordan receives a telephone call from his lawyer, ordering him to call back from a payphone. Still sober, Jordan drives his Ferrari to a nearby country club and phones the attorney, who reports Brad’s arrest and warns Jordan that his home is now under surveillance. Just then, the Quaaludes take effect, and Jordan is neither able to talk nor walk. After dragging himself back to the Ferrari, he receives a car phone call from Naomi, who complains that Donnie is intoxicated and making illogical transactions over the phone with Saurel, the Swiss banker. Fearing Donnie’s conversation will provide evidence to the FBI, Jordan navigates home in a drug-induced stupor and disconnects his friend from the telephone. Just then, Donnie chokes on a piece of deli meat. Jordan struggles to remain conscious, resuscitates himself with cocaine, and performs the Heimlich maneuver to save his partner. Sometime later, in an effort to withdraw from FBI surveillance, the two men take their wives to Italy on the Naomi, a yacht Jordan purchased for his wife as a wedding present. There, they learn that Aunt Emma died, and Jordan is wrought with anxiety about the multi-million dollar Swiss bank account in her name. Despite the yacht captain’s warning of a pending storm, Jordan orders the Naomi to head for Monaco, so he can get to Switzerland without delay. That night, the yacht encounters perilous waves. Although all on board are saved, the Naomi sinks, and the airplane that Jordan charters for Switzerland explodes just before landing to collect him, killing three people. The collective near-death experiences inspire Jordan to become sober, and he establishes a “self-help” financial coaching service, pledging to make other people rich. During the filming of an infomercial, Jordan is arrested by Agent Denham; Jordan’s Swiss banker, Saurel, revealed evidence against Stratton Oakmont to the FBI when he was exposed for participation in another scheme. Although Jordan pays bail, he is disheartened by his home detention, and hopes to minimize his impending prison sentence by cooperating with the FBI and wearing a wiretap to incriminate his associates. During his next encounter with Donnie, however, Jordan secretly passes his friend a note, warning him that he is under surveillance. That evening, Jordan appeals to Naomi for sex, assuring her that he will only be in prison a short time, and will retain his fortune. Naomi is loath to accept Jordan’s failures and refuses his advances, but he forces himself upon her and she orders him to have sex as if it was their final encounter. When Jordan satisfies himself, Naomi announces her plan for divorce, with full custody of Skylar and their second child. Outraged, Jordan retrieves a stash of cocaine hidden in his sofa, breaks his sobriety, and collects young Skylar from her bedroom. As Naomi struggles to defend the child, Jordan beats his wife, forces Skylar into his Mercedes, and reverses the vehicle into a wall, but he and the girl are physically unharmed. In the morning, Jordan awakens to an empty bed, and his maid announces visitors. Agent Denham wields the illicit warning note that Jordan gave Donnie the day before, revealing that Donnie was also in cahoots with the FBI, but failed to offer Jordan the same caution. Betrayed by his best friend, and deprived of his family, Jordan finally capitulates to the FBI, and a raid at Stratton Oakmont ensues. After serving twenty-two months of this three-year sentence in a Nevada prison, Jordan continues his career as a motivational speaker, challenging audiences to invent spontaneous sales pitches for a simple writing pen.