The real life “Wolf of Wall Street” told Daily Caller co-founder Tucker Carlson how the financial system really works Friday on The Tucker Carlson Encounter on Twitter.
“Mutual funds were ripping people’s eyeballs out forever,” Jordan Belfort told Carlson. “Now they still do crappy. Their performance is crappy compared to the S&P 500, but for years and years they’re just ripping the public’s eyeball.”
Belfort explained how “the shift into index funds” started through a study conducted by economist Paul Samuelson in 1970 of “every mutual fund out there since 1920.” Samuelson reached the conclusion that “maybe there were a few people who can outperform the S&P, but they remain remarkably well hidden.”
Belfort claimed “Wall Street did everything they could to suppress” Samuelson’s discovery. He said Jack Bogle was “the first guy to try” Samuelson’s method through the creation of Vanguard, where “you can buy the best index fund with virtually no expenses.” The former stockbroker claimed Wall Street also attempted to sabotage Vanguard.
“When he started Vanguard, Wall Street went out on the ultimate smear campaign for like a decade, suppressing everything about index funds, saying it’s the stupidest thing, who wants to be average?” Belfort told Carlson. (RELATED: Hamas May Have Used Oct 7 Attack To Make A Killing On The Stock Market: REPORT)
Ep. 58 How did a not very bright thug like Nancy Pelosi get rich in the stock market? Because the system is rigged. Jordan Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street, explains. pic.twitter.com/rZbkKc5bzD
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) December 29, 2023
Belfort said that “people are really crappy” at investing in individual stocks because the market “plays into all our worst impulses.” He said the stock market crash of 1987 caused Vanguard to “gain traction” as investors exited high expense mutual funds in favor of the “ultra-low-cost index options” now commonly offered by companies like Merrill Lynch and T. Rowe Price.
“The answer is very simple,” Belfort said of buying stock in multiple big tech companies offering the same upcoming innovation. “You buy them all in one investment, which is the S&P 500, and then you sit back and let time do the heavy lifting for you.”
Belfort is a former stockbroker who went to prison for defrauding shareholders and manipulating stocks, according to Collider. He was portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which was based on the eponymous memoir.