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Belfort was born in 1962 in the Bronx borough of New York City into a Jewish family. His parents, Leah and Max Belfort, are both accountants. He was raised in Bayside, Queens. Between completing high school and starting college, Belfort and his close childhood friend Elliot Loewenstern earned $20,000 selling Italian ice from styrofoam coolers to people at a local beach. Belfort planned on using the money earned with Loewenstern to pay for a dental-school qualification and he enrolled in the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery; however, he left after the dean of the school said to him on his first day at the college: "The golden age of dentistry is over. If you’re here simply because you’re looking to make a lot of money, you’re in the wrong place." Belfort eventually graduated from American University with a degree in biology.