Steve Madden’s Role In The True Story Of ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’
Steve Madden is best known as a fashion designer, particularly when it comes to shoes. In fact, today, Steve Madden Ltd. is a well-known fashion brand, and the man himself makes frequent public appearances at red carpet events. But in 2000, he got into some legal trouble — and it was all due to his relationship with Jordan Belfort.
UPI / Alamy Stock PhotoSteve Madden, the fashion designer who was known to party with Jordan Belfort.
Madden was Danny Porush’s childhood friend, and when his company started to take off, Porush and Belfort saw his potential as their golden opportunity. Steve Madden Ltd. went through an initial public offering handled by Stratton Oakmont, and from then on, Madden and Belfort developed a deeper business relationship. They were also known to party together, and Belfort made a habit of calling Madden “the Cobbler.”
When it comes to the true story of The Wolf of Wall Street, Stratton Oakmont really did use aggressive and often fraudulent sales tactics to manipulate the stock price of Steve Madden Ltd. This resulted in significant profits for the brokerage and for Madden, who was later found to be complicit in these activities. But like most relationships in Belfort’s life, their partnership became strained.
Belfort’s drug use and legal troubles made him paranoid; he started to think everyone was plotting against him, even Madden. “The price of Steve Madden Shoes was being dictated by the laws of supply and demand — rising and falling with the fortunes of the company itself, not the fortunes of any particular brokerage firm that was recommending it,” Belfort wrote.
“The Cobbler had to be plotting against me,” he continued. “Perhaps that bald bastard had deluded himself, thinking I wouldn’t have the balls to expose our secret agreement, that by its very nature it would cause both of us too many problems if I made it public. He was in for a rude awakening.”
Paramount PicturesJake Hoffman, the son of Dustin Hoffman, as Steve Madden in The Wolf of Wall Street.
Steve Madden Ltd. had been one of the first major stocks for which Stratton Oakmont was fixing the market. Madden was aware of this, and some of Belfort’s own stocks were even in Madden’s name.
But when the feds started to crack down on Belfort and he turned on his fellow cohorts, Madden was one of the people he took down.
“He ratted me out to save himself,” Madden told the Hollywood Reporter in 2014. “But it was a long time ago, and I try not to live in the past. You’ve got to move on, and I have.”
Madden served 31 months in prison for his involvement with the stock manipulation, after which he returned to his company. Since then, he has worked to clean up his image and successfully turned his company into a massive brand, with stores throughout the U.S. and more than 55 other countries.
As for Scorsese’s film and its portrayal of Madden, it seems the designer’s only complaint was that Jake Hoffman “was too nerdy.”
