A fictionalized model of Jordan Belfort’s spouse Denise Lombardo was portrayed by Cristin Milioti in The Wolf of Wall Avenue — however what occurred to the true Lombardo?
Private pictureJordan Belfort, a.okay.a. the “Wolf of Wall Avenue,” with a girl believed to be his first spouse, Denise Lombardo.
Martin Scorsese’s 2013 movie The Wolf of Wall Avenue tells the true story of Jordan Belfort, the notorious Wall Avenue dealer who, within the Nineteen Nineties, was caught perpetrating an elaborate inventory fraud scheme by his agency Stratton Oakmont.
The movie sparked some renewed curiosity in Belfort’s sensational crimes, and he’s since managed to capitalize on it, making frequent media appearances, posting movies of himself on TikTok, and giving motivational talks. However whereas Belfort by no means actually left the general public eye after the movie’s launch, the identical can’t be mentioned for his first spouse, Denise Lombardo, who has lived a quiet, personal life since her divorce from Belfort.
In The Wolf of Wall Avenue, Cristin Milioti performs a fictionalized model of Lombardo named Teresa Petrillo. The movie reveals Petrillo, a hairdresser, supporting Belfort by his turbulent early profession within the inventory market and appearing as a voice of purpose as he grows more and more power-hungry. It is just after Belfort has an affair with a mannequin, performed by Margot Robbie, that they lastly divorce.
So, who’s the true Denise Lombardo? And the way correct was her depiction in The Wolf of Wall Avenue?
Denise Lombardo’s Early Life And Profession
Sadly, little or no is thought about Denise Lombardo’s life.
Whereas Jordan Belfort’s second and third marriages performed out within the public eye, Lombardo married Belfort lengthy earlier than the fraudster made it on Wall Avenue and has lived a reasonably personal existence since, leaving a lot of her story within the palms of her infamous ex-husband.
In line with the U.S. Solar, Lombardo was born on Nov. 11, 1963 in Ohio to oldsters Anthony Florito and Ann Lombardo.
Lombardo allegedly attended Bayside Excessive College in Queens, New York earlier than transferring on to Adelphi College to check English literature.
In line with some sources, she would later go on to check at Towson College in Maryland, taking a Enterprise Administration and Science course, and gaining her Grasp’s in Instructional Management and Administration on the Australian Catholic College. A number of sources recommend Lombardo then pursued a profession in actual property.
Nonetheless, when Jordan Belfort met Lombardo, she was reportedly working in a hair salon.
Marriage To The ‘Wolf Of Wall Avenue’
Paramount PhotosCristin Milioti as Teresa Petrillo in The Wolf of Wall Avenue.
There are two conflicting accounts of how Jordan Belfort and Denise Lombardo first met.
Quite a few sources declare Belfort and Lombardo have been highschool sweethearts who met whereas they have been each at Bayside Excessive College. Nonetheless, in his personal memoir The Wolf Of Wall Avenue, Belfort claimed that when he first met Lombardo, he was working as a meat and seafood salesman on Lengthy Island.
In line with Belfort, he first laid eyes on Lombardo whereas making an attempt to promote meat to the proprietor of the hair salon the place Lombardo labored. When he noticed her, he mentioned he was “blown away” by how stunning she was and requested for her quantity repeatedly earlier than in the end speeding dwelling to select up his Porsche in an try and impress her.
Evidently, this tactic labored. The pair reportedly married in 1985, when Belfort was nonetheless struggling to make a profession for himself as a salesman. Round that point, Belfort was pressured to file for chapter on the age of simply 25 — and shortly made a fateful profession pivot to shares.
Belfort landed a job as a trainee stockbroker with L.F. Rothschild, and whereas his time with the corporate was quick, it modified him. Realizing how a lot cash he might make within the enterprise, Belfort pushed on forward, ultimately assembly Danny Porush in 1988 and founding a agency with him: Stratton Oakmont.
As detailed in The Wolf of Wall Avenue, Belfort raked in mountains of money by his “pump and dump” scheme. And as he did so, his life-style turned certainly one of medication, wild events, lavish spending, and total extra.
Sash Alexander / Alamy Inventory PictureJordan Belfort, the Wolf of Wall Avenue.
It wasn’t lengthy earlier than the Nationwide Affiliation of Securities Sellers (NASD) started investigating Belfort’s firm. However that alone didn’t trigger his marriage to Denise Lombardo to deteriorate.
Fairly, it was an affair Belfort had with mannequin Nadine Caridi (named Naomi Lapaglia within the movie).
Denise Lombardo And Jordan Belfort’s Divorce
Jordan Belfort claimed in his memoir that Denise Lombardo married him when he had “nothing,” caught with him by the highs and lows of his profession, and supported him as he made the pivot into shares.
However when Belfort began to earn money with Stratton Oakmont, Lombardo seemingly sensed that he was rising power-hungry, reportedly asking him, “Jordan, why can’t you get a standard job making one million {dollars} a yr?”
Then, Belfort met “Miller Lite lady” Nadine Caridi at a celebration, and the 2 shortly struck up an affair. Belfort confessed that he cheated on Lombardo “dozens of instances” with the mannequin earlier than Lombardo lastly came upon.
The pair break up quickly after, reportedly divorcing in 1991.
“I ought to’ve been horsewhipped for what I did to Denise,” Belfort wrote. “I don’t care if it’s Wall Avenue or Essential Avenue. What I did was in-f***ing-excusable.”
He additionally famous that the affair was all around the newspapers.
“What a f***ing nightmare that should’ve been for Denise,” he wrote. “I imply, she was a twenty-five-year-old lady who was dumped for some younger sizzling mannequin. And the newspapers painted her to be some outdated socialite who’d misplaced her intercourse attraction — like she was being traded in for a woman who nonetheless had some life left in her!”
Belfort even confessed in his memoir that he’d by no means have the ability to belief his second spouse, Caridi, the best way he trusted Lombardo.
Paramount PhotosMargot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Avenue as Naomi Lapaglia and Jordan Belfort.
For her half, Denise Lombardo apparently dodged a bullet: In 1998, years after they divorced, Belfort was lastly arrested for the large-scale fraud he’d dedicated with Stratton Oakmont.
Through the investigation, Belfort turned an informant for the FBI, sporting a wire and in the end testifying towards quite a few associates in alternate for a extra lenient sentence.
In 2003, Belfort was sentenced to 4 years in jail for his monetary crimes, although he solely served 22 months. He was additionally ordered to pay again $110.4 million to the inventory patrons he had swindled.
At present, Jordan Belfort has change into one thing of a social media persona with hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok, leveraging his infamy right into a type of on-line celeb.
Denise Lombardo, in the meantime, shied away from any high-profile public appearances. Consequently, a lot of what we find out about her life comes from Belfort’s memoir The Wolf Of Wall Avenue — and its movie adaptation.
How Correct Is The Wolf Of Wall Avenue To Actual Life?
It’s a query that comes up anytime a movie is “primarily based on a real story”: How correct is it, actually?
Within the case of The Wolf of Wall Avenue, the movie is at the least fairly correct to its supply materials — which occurs to be Belfort’s personal memoir and private recollection of occasions.
Nonetheless, Belfort isn’t precisely recognized for his honesty, which makes a lot of his account suspect. Nonetheless, the bones of the story appear to line up with how issues performed out within the tabloids and main information shops. And even a number of the wildest particulars within the movie look like true.
For instance, Danny Porush (the inspiration for Jonah Hill’s character Donnie Azoff within the film), actually did marry and divorce his cousin. Porush additionally confessed to consuming a dwell goldfish to intimidate a dealer, as depicted within the movie. Belfort actually did sink a yacht previously owned by Coco Chanel. He additionally crashed a helicopter whereas excessive.
And identical to within the movie, Belfort turned on lots of his former pals and companions, together with Danny Porush.
Private PictureJordan Belfort and Nadine Caridi.
That mentioned, various individuals concerned with Belfort in actual life have since pointed to inaccuracies in Belfort’s model of occasions.
Belfort’s second spouse, Nadine Macaluso (previously Caridi), mentioned in a video on TikTok: “When you have a look at [the film] by Jordan’s lens, it was actually correct. And I feel that should you have a look at it by my lens, it wasn’t, and that is sensible as a result of that was really how our marriage was. Nonetheless, I went to remedy, I turned a therapist… and so I’m able to discern his reality, my reality, and the whole lot in between.”
Macaluso and Belfort divorced in 2005, with Macaluso accusing Belfort of home violence and infidelity.
Denise Lombardo, in the meantime, has remained comparatively quiet about her personal experiences with Belfort. Cristin Miloti reportedly didn’t have entry to Lombardo whereas researching her position in The Wolf of Wall Avenue, and Belfort’s first spouse has not made any public feedback for the reason that movie’s launch, so it’s not clear whether or not she discovered the movie’s portrayal of her to be correct.
It appears as if Lombardo has tried to distance herself from the entire affair. And primarily based on how issues turned out for Belfort and his fellow fraudsters, that could be a smart resolution.
After studying about Jordan Belfort’s first spouse Denise Lombardo, find out about a few of historical past’s most notorious con artists. Or, examine Jordan Graham, and why she shoved her husband off a cliff eight days into their marriage.
