having read his book I think I can safely say that Belfort is an irredeemable twat and the money he scammed mad him a rich irredeemable twat. I see no evidence that it made a better person.
Has money ever made a bad person a good one? I doubt it.
I dont thik so. Pablo Escobar, the Columbian drug Lord, made billions and while he did give out some money to the poor, generally kept a tight grip on control thru intimidation and murder.
This reminded me of this guy. Not exactly the same thing since he owns/owned his place in the hotel, but it probably goes into the conveniences of just living in a nice hotel when you have money. Keep in mind this isn’t NYC or anything. This is from the guy himself, though this was extensively covered by CNN and other sources at the time.
http://www.quicksprout.com/2010/02/24/why-i-live-in-a-hotel/
I used to work for a restaurant in a hotel. When they redeveloped into a fancier hotel they included condos for sale (a couple million bucks) as well as for weekly rentals. I often wondered what it would be like if I made money and bought a condo in their hotel (also since they laid off everyone for several years chasing development money and ended up not really being successful, and I would be wealthier than they are under such a scenario).
I had a required class in college that covered a lot of this, as well as gender roles in the workforce, villagers employed in the factories, etc. I found it all pretty interesting.
How rich is rich enough? Do you own a plane? Or lease one when you want to fly? Or fly first class? Do you need sufficient staff to relieve you of the mundane things of life – bill paying, answering your doors and phones, cleaning, etc.?
Watching CNN about the OJ Simpson trial. Perhaps there’s some perspective. He could afford some nice houses, worth millions even back 20 years ago, including a guest house on premises with a freeloader living in it. He was a member of golf clubs. He was a movie star. He could afford very expensive lawyers (and got his money’s worth.) I assume he was in the million-a-year income range at the very least.
But he wasn’t “I own a jet” rich. He owned a Bronco, he flew a commercial flight to Chicago, but used a limo service instead of a taxi to get to the airport. He had a maid, but not live-in. He wore very expensive shoes, but couldn’t afford gloves that fit… and so on. Basically, it seems it was a lifestyle more like the upper end of middle class than Trump-like.