
‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ film was also a real-life scam - skilled
https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/the-perfect-irony-that-the-wolf-of-wall-street-was-also-a-real-life-scam
======
desdiv
>Since they can’t get back the stolen millions used to bankroll DiCaprio’s
dreams, part of accomplishing justice in this case means the U.S. government
now owns the rights and royalties of The Wolf of Wall Street.

Minor correction: U.S. government received a $60 million settlement from Red
Granite Pictures, but not any rights to any film directly[0]. Obviously a big
chunk of that $60 million derived from the royalties of The Wolf of Wall
Street, but the government didn't get the rights and royalties directly.

The author might have confused it with the fact that the government was
_attempting_ to seize the film rights during the court proceedings[1], but the
final settlement didn't include these film rights.

[0] [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-scandal-
redgrani...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-scandal-
redgranite/the-wolf-of-wall-street-producers-to-pay-60-million-to-u-s-in-
lawsuit-settlement-idUSKCN1GJ0FH)

[1] [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/feds-look-seize-
wo...](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/feds-look-seize-wolf-
wall-912733)

------
Maro
But the movie wasn't a scam/fraud. The funding was stolen, the result of
fraud. The moviw would have been a fraud if they collect a lot of money for it
claiming Leonardo DiCaprio will star and Scorcese will direct, and then that
doesn't actually happen bc they blow the money on booze.

~~~
i_call_solo
That doesn't make for a clickbaitey enough title though.

------
zhte415
Directly related book recommendation: Billion Dollar Whale by Tom Wright and
Bradley Hope, published 2018.

They book follows the founders of 1MDB, the quasi Malaysia soverign wealth
fund wbhose investments included the founding of Red Granite the producers of
Wolf of Wall Street, from pre-1MDB days through to it's demise. Quite quick
and easy, repeats itself a bit and imho falls apart/seems rushed at the end,
but a fascinating account of greed, corruption, and how easy it seems. Well
worth a movie adaptation itself!

~~~
arethuza
.

~~~
desdiv
That's really weird. Does it have something to do with its UK distribution
rights or something?

Funny enough, I was able to find the Spanish version of the book on Amazon
UK[0], but the English version apparently "will be released on September 12,
2019"[1] for Amazon UK.

I guess there exists a tiny niche market here where you can buy "early
release" books from "early release" jurisdictions and ship it to "late
release" jurisdictions.

[0]
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/6073176899](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/6073176899)

[1]
[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1912854546](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1912854546)

~~~
phyalow
The publishers have been facing an injunction from Jho Lo & Co. in the UK and
other markets, preventing publication.
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/14/bookshops-
thre...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/14/bookshops-threatened-
with-legal-action-jho-low-billion-dollar-whale)

------
kosei
Some of the writing here came out really petty. Made it difficult to read and
take the article seriously.

> It seems the socially-awkward Low had a thing for rich, mildly attractive,
> blonde daughters of famous American families.

> [Low would] be photographed with his sweaty, alcohol-flushed face on her
> shoulder.

~~~
089723645897236
Almost as petty as pointing out pettiness!

------
jermaustin1
Looking at Admissions/Deposits/Fees for the private English boarding school
that Low went to (Harrow School), I was surprised at how "affordable" it
actually is. /I/ couldn't afford it, but for the level of access you are
giving your child to the world of the elite, £30k doesn't seem like its all
THAT much money.

~~~
toyg
That sort of school then has all sorts of “optional but really compulsory”
extra fees for things like trips abroad etc. If the sticker price is 30k per
year, the actual one is probably around 40k.

For comparison, the average salary in UK is 28k before taxes.

~~~
opportune
40k gbp still isn't that much. That's around what the top boarding schools
cost in the US. My main concern wouldn't be the sticker price but whether you
need to come from the right "background" (e.g. not nouveau-riche) for your
child to get accepted. To my understanding the top US boarding schools are
less concerned with your financial pedigree, which makes sense given that most
rich people in the US _are_ nouveau-riche by British standards

------
hacknat
Is it the responsibility of any project/startup to find out who the LPs are
for a VC fund? Sometimes this information is not only inaccessible, it would
be illegal for you to know. Especially in a case where - wait for it - a
sovereign wealth fund might be involved.

So... call me crazy, but I don’t think Leonardo DiCaprio did anything wrong
here. I’m sure he’s used to rich a __holes giving him money and trying to
buddy up with him all the time, why would one seem more suspicious than the
others?

~~~
giarc
I don't think the author necessarily says Leo did anything wrong, it was more
of "How could Leo not know something was up."

------
ninju
The best quote

>As far as justice goes, it’s extremely poetic: a film about guys who believed
they were above the law until they got caught by the feds was made by guys who
believed they were above the law until they, too, got caught by the feds.

>Art imitating life imitating art.

Inception in real life :-)

------
sonnyblarney
It's understandable that clubs pay celebs to show up, though it always blows
my mind how much.

But for a person? Surely this can increase one's 'personal brand' \- I guess -
in some way, but really it's utterly sad. Literally paying people to hang out
with you.

I don't worry much about ever being a billionaire, but that is one thing I did
ponder: how hard it would be to tell the true friends from the clingers. So
sad.

And $1B scam is not even a lot. Many 'national leaders' routinely take 10% of
foreign direct investment right off the top. It happens in the open, clear as
day, but there's hardly any reporting about it.

------
runn1ng
_allegedly_

~~~
giancarlostoro
After having watched White Collar I usually say that about most accusations.
We have all seen shows where an innocent person looks guilty. We somehow went
from innocent until proven guilty to ridiculed and reviled until dead (and
even that doesnt end it) regardless of the verdict or the reality.

~~~
vegannet
Innocent until proven guilty is a legal standard, it is unreasonable and
impractical to expect individuals to abide by it in their day to day life.
Every day you are constantly making assessments on people based on the
information you have, whether that’s in the context of a crime or otherwise.
The justice system (in America especially) is not “fair” and does not treat
guilt as the phrase “innocent until proven guilty” might lead you to believe —
in many circumstances innocent defendants plead guilty.

Some people like to cling to the idea of innocent until proven guilty because
it’s a nice sentiment that makes things easy — “I don’t have to make a
decision about this person, I can just agree with the court outcome” — but
it’s meaningless outside of the legal process. Many people do not have a clear
understanding of what it takes to prove guilt in court (and also do not
understand what can derail a conviction) and would be surprised to learn how
difficult it can be in some situations where there is (to the layman) clear
evidence.

~~~
braythwayt
“Innocent until proven guilty” is an example of cargo-culting in personal
ethics. Or if you prefer, following a process while forgetting the principle
that drove the creation of the process in the first place.

The principle is that for most people accused of a crime by the state, the
state has much, much more power than the accused. To act as one check against
abuse of that power, we establish a higher bar for conviction of a crime than
for innocence.

But if Frank’s lunch is missing from the fridge, and he thinks Homer ate it,
there is no massive power imbalance, so Frank doesn’t have the same burden of
proof to decide to dislike Homer, or to accuse Homer.

Of course, if the state listens to Frank and decides to charge Homer with
theft, then the state has a higher burden of proof to impose criminal
consequences.

If homer is declared innocent under law because the state couldn’t prove its
case, we don't go back to Frank and harass him for making a false claim. His
standard for accusing Homer is lower than the state’s standard for laying
charges.

After all, the state has investigators and attorney generals and grand juries
and congressional panels and other apparatus for deciding whether to pursue a
case in court.

We only go after Frank is he was truly reckless, not just on the basis of
whether the state can meet the very high bar of proving the case in court.

People get this very badly wrong when it comes to accusations of sexual
misconduct or rape from long ago. The standard for a person accusing another
person is much lower than the standard for the state obtaining a conviction in
court, and that is as it should be.

~~~
gcb0
the point you missed is how the media is almost as powerful as the state but
get a pass to act like a small individual from your example.

~~~
dragonwriter
> the point you missed is how the media is almost as powerful as the state

“The media” collectively might have such power, but the media isn't a single
entity like the state, and in any case neither the media nor the entities
actually comprising it inflict criminal punishment, and even the State does
not bear the high burden of criminal proof when it isn't trying to inflict
criminal punishment.

~~~
astazangasta
Given how consolidated media ownership has become, I'm not sure this is true.
In addition the ability to destroy reputations is real damage that the media
does all the time.

------
soapboxrocket
Just finished the book on this, Billion Dollar Whale, good read. Also shows
how money like this affects politics with funding to Obama's re-election and
his subsequent visit to Malaysia.

------
scandox
There are stories about someone losing a five pound note that are more
interesting than this. Guy blatantly steals loads of money. Celebrity. Spends
it on bullshit. Celebrity. Large number. Celebrity.

~~~
scruffyherder
Then you missed the whole point of selling pens.

------
mido22
Did they just misuse the word "irony"? Or am I just dumb and having trouble
identifying which form of irony this is?

~~~
ccjnsn
A film about financial scams was funded in part by a financial scam.

Is this not ironic?

~~~
OscarCunningham
It would definitely be ironic if a movie about honesty and integrity had been
funded by a scam. This is sort of the opposite, the topic of the movie and its
source of funding are thematically similar, rather than being in opposition.
So rather than describing it as "ironic" I'd use an antonym like "fitting" or
"congruous".

~~~
zuminator
The ironic part is that one might expect the producers of a film about a
massive financial scam to be more educated and diligent about avoiding the
same pitfalls in their own production. The fact that they were so easily
gulled while essentially lecturing the world through their film, that's
amusingly contrary to expectations, hence ironic.

~~~
scruffyherder
Gonzo movie making

