Greed
Remember when Gordon Gecko told a nineteen eighties movie-going pubic that "greed is good"? Jordan Belfort seems to have bought into this statement lock stock and barrel, because soon after he is released from the faltering financial giant L.F. Rothschild, he finds a way to make a lot of money, and starts to enjoy it a little too much. Very soon he is buying into his boss's ethos that the only job of a stockbroker is to make money for himself. Working alongside Hanna seems to drain every ounce of decency left in Jordan; he is greedy for money, for drugs and for women, and very soon he stops thinking about his investors at all.
The crimes that he is eventually found guilty of all stem from his greed, because they all relate to his hiding of money, and what is considered to be ill gotten gains, from his insider trading enterprises. It is his greed that eventually leads to his downfall.
Every Man For Himself
Jordan learns a very brutal lesson and that is that in many situations it is every man for himself. The main example of this is at the end of the story; Jordan is wearing a wire, and supposed to be working with the F.B.I. but he has a loyalty to his friend, Donnie Azoff, and warns him that he is wearing the wire. Donnie, rather than being grateful for this, immediately goes to the F.B.I. and tells them that Jordan is not adhering to the terms of his agreement. This is a rude awakening for Jordan because his loyalty and friendship are not repaid. Donnie is in self-preservation mode, even though, surprisingly, Jordan is not.
Stockbroker High Life
The film shows vividly the "high life" led by successful stockbrokers and others employed by brokerage firms; there was seemingly endless money, unlimited access to drugs, prostitutes on tap - there was a constant opportunity to enjoy all three at the same time, and this was not only the case for Jordan, but for others as well. The lifestyle is not shown in a positive light and it had a detrimental effect on the lives of most of those indulging. In the case of Jordan, he lost two wives to his constant partying and wild lifestyle.
