Director Oliver Stone’s masterpiece film Wall Street, released on December 11, 1987 reflected the zeitgeist of the 1980’s – where the greedy “yuppie” stockbroker culture was a barometer for society’s excesses.

Charlie Sheen as ambitious Bud Fox delivers a prized box of Cuban cigars to ruthless corporate raider Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas (who went on to earn an Oscar for Best Actor). Once in the lion’s den, Fox salivates over the trappings of wealth, like hot blonde Darien Taylor (Darryl Hannah). However he turns spiritually bankrupt when the corrupt world of insider trading persuades him to cough up info that compromises his union leader father’s job at an airline. Fox’s glory is short lived: Gekko liquidates Bluestar and terminates all jobs. Racked with guilt, Fox concocts a scheme to manipulate Bluestar’s stock price but the SEC sniffs it out … teary perp walk and a legal deal follow, leaving Fox’s fate unknown.

Former investment bankers Drexel Burnham Lambert, Jeffrey Beck and Kenneth Lipper served as technical advisors on the movie, accurately capturing the financial climate of the industry. One most memorable example is Gekko's famous speech at a shareholders meeting:

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right; greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms, greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words — will not only save Teldar Paper but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA..."

This Week in Wall Street History

12/10/07