Real-Life ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Found Dead in Hollywood
The former fraudster advised Martin Scorsese during the making of Leonardo DiCaprio’s debaucherous romp.
Barry Gesser, a former trader was convicted of stock fraud in one of the schemes that inspired Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Wolf of Wall Street, was found dead in his home on Wednesday. He was 52.
Gesser’s body was discovered by his housekeeper, reported TMZ. Gesser, who advised both Jonah Hill and Martin Scorsese during the making of Wolf of Wall Street, apparently wasn’t the victim of a crime. TMZ reported that investigators said “they don’t suspect foul play” and that it “also unclear if it was a suicide.”
Gesser reportedly had a history of drug use, according to TMZ, but no paraphernalia was found at the site of his death.
There wasn’t a Barry Gesser character in the Scorsese film based on the scams of Jordan Belfort and his associates, but Gesser was close to Belfort in real life. Gesser had served three years probation for stock fraud between 1999 and 2002, reported the Daily News. According to the paper, he was “notably dumped by his wife — model Stacey Aysson — this past February after just 15 days of marriage after she reportedly walked in on him in bed with another woman.”
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