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Belfort founded Stratton Oakmont as a franchise of Stratton Securities, then later bought out the original founder.Stratton Oakmont functioned as a boiler room that marketed penny stocks and defrauded investors with the “pump and dump” type of stock sales. During his years at Stratton, Belfort developed a lifestyle that consisted of lavish parties and intensive recreational use of drugs, especially methaqualone—sold to him under the brand name “Quaalude”—that resulted in an addiction.
