A stockbroker on Long Island named Jordan Belfort rises from poverty to immense wealth and tremendous luxury, but he employs deceptive and unethical strategies to accomplish this. The depraved and self-centered broker eventually begins to use illegal drugs and engage in other criminal activity. His noisy, rude friend Donnie helps him establish a corrupt investment firm. Both men behave recklessly until others become intolerant of their actions. When the police begin to investigate, Belfort is predictably uncooperative.