Friend Of The Real-Life Wolf Of Wall Street Is Now Homeless

A former friend and associate of Jordan Belfort, the real-life Wolf of Wall Street, is now homeless and living on the streets in Manhattan.

52-year-old William ‘Preston’ King was photographed asleep on pizza boxes in Greenwich Village by the Sergeants Benevolent Association, in the hope of bringing homelessness issues to the attention of City Hall.

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His sister Kristine saw one of the pictures and recognised him, and is now desperate to find him.

King was a high-flying, fiercely intelligent broker at firms like Merrill Lynch but succumbed to drug and alcohol problems, battling them for 30 years

Speaking to the New York Post, Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s movie, said: “I read the story, and I feel so bad for the guy. Socially, I knew him.

“I’d probably be on a park bench, too, if I didn’t get sober.”

Belfort, who served 22 months in prison for fraud, added that King was likely a casualty of the culture of drugs and alcohol abuse which gripped high-level banking in the 80s.

“There was so much partying back then. That journey into coke is just so destructive, makes you paranoid. I thought there were aliens coming in my window. I went crazy, was completely out of touch with reality before I got sober.

“He’s not the first person that relapsed a hundred times. With a lot of people, it’s just how much pain do you need to go through before you make a change?

“The change itself happens in an instant. For me, once I was done, I was done. I went to rehab in 1997, and AA. I’m sober now for 18 years.”

King’s sister Kristine said that she had last seen him at her house in January, after which they argued because he had stolen money from her.

“I screamed at him about taking the money and told him to write me a letter and apologize when he comes clean, and we’ll talk,” she told the Post.

“That was the last time we spoke. Where he was then, and where he is now, sleeping on cardboard boxes, it’s unthinkable to me and heartbreaking.”

Both King’s sister and the SBA are now appealing for information on his whereabouts.

Image credits: Flickr/SBA/Reuters/Facebook