Daniel “Danny” Porush was born in February 1957 in Lawrence, New York. He grew up in the Nassau County village of Lawrence on Long Island. Porush was the son of a doctor, his father was a nephrologist (a kidney specialist). The family lived in a suburban, middle-class neighborhood; Porush attended the local public elementary school (P.S.1 in Lawrence) during his early childhood.
Porush later continued his schooling at Lawrence Woodmere Academy, a private school on Long Island. After high school he enrolled in college: he studied at Dickinson College and later at Boston University. He did not complete a degree at either institution.
| Full Name & Birth | Born in 1957 in Lawrence, New York. |
| Family Background | Grew up in a middle-class medical family. |
| Education | Attended college but did not finish a degree. |
| Early Career | Co-founded Stratton Oakmont in the late 1980s. |
| Leadership Role | Became Stratton Oakmont’s president and CEO. |
| Industry Ban | Barred from the brokerage industry in 1996. |
| Legal Outcome | Convicted in 1999; served a federal prison term. |
| Post-Prison Work | Returned to business through Med-Care in Florida. |
| Public Attention | Company activities drew Senate and federal scrutiny. |
| Net Worth (2026) | Not publicly disclosed |
Daniel “Danny” Porush is an American businessman and former stockbroker best known for co-founding the Stratton Oakmont with Jordan Belfort in 1989.
Stratton Oakmont became infamous for aggressively selling penny stocks and manipulating their prices, a scheme for which Porush was later convicted of securities fraud and money laundering.
He served approximately three years in federal prison (released to probation in 2004) for his role in the fraud. After prison, Porush entered the healthcare supply industry, taking on an executive role at Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Supplies Inc.. He has since remained barred from the brokerage industry.
Porush launched his brokerage career in early 1989 after passing the required licensing exams. He briefly worked as a broker at Packard Group, Inc. (March 1989) and at Stratton Securities, Inc. (April–June 1989) before leaving to start his own firm with Belfort.
In June 1989 they founded Stratton Oakmont, an over-the-counter (OTC) brokerage. Porush initially served as president of Stratton Oakmont, overseeing the firm’s sales force and day-to-day operations.
Under his management, Stratton became known for issuing initial public offerings (IPOs) of small companies and selling microcap “penny” stocks to retail investors.
Throughout the early 1990s, Porush was a key leader at Stratton Oakmont. When Belfort was temporarily barred from brokerage in 1994, Porush assumed the top executive title (effectively acting as Stratton’s CEO).
He led a large boiler-room sales operation on Long Island, where brokers made high-pressure pitches to buy thinly traded stocks. Regulators noted that Stratton amassed “one of the worst regulatory records” due to widespread abuse.
In late 1996 the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD, now Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) expelled Stratton Oakmont from the industry and permanently barred Porush from ever working as a broker, while fining him $250,000.
Stratton Oakmont’s core business was a classic pump-and-dump scheme. In this fraud, promoters hype a low-priced stock to induce buying, then sell their holdings at the inflated peak.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission describes how fraudsters use news releases, newsletters or other hype to pump up a stock’s price, then “sell their shares at the peak,” causing the price to collapse and investors to lose money.
At Stratton, Porush and Belfort engineered this by underwriting IPOs of small companies and taking large positions.
They often funneled stock into the hands of associates (“flippers”) at below-market prices, then used aggressive sales tactics to sell shares to Stratton clients at artificially inflated prices.
In short, Porush ran the firm like a “classic boiler room”: acquiring shares cheaply, hyping the stock in the brokerage, and dumping shares on the public for profit.
By the mid-1990s Stratton’s activities drew federal attention. Investigators found Stratton had manipulated at least 34 IPOs and laundered tens of millions of dollars.
In September 1999 Porush and Belfort admitted guilt on expanded fraud charges – each pleaded guilty to multiple counts of securities fraud and money laundering tied to the pump-and-dump scheme.
A later court filing confirmed that Porush “was convicted of insider trading, perjury, conspiracy and money laundering and ordered to pay $200 million in restitution” (part of a plea deal).
In 2002 a federal judge sentenced Porush to four years in prison; he served roughly 39 months and was released on probation in 2004. (Belfort received a shorter sentence in a related case.)
Separately, in 2001 the SEC issued a final order permanently barring Porush from any association with brokers or dealers, ensuring he could never legally work again in securities.
After his release, Porush turned to the healthcare business. He joined Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Supplies Inc., a Florida medical-device supplier, serving as an executive (reports describe him as an executive vice-president or manager).
In that role he helped manage the company’s operations and sales of diabetic and other medical supplies. Porush has publicly stated he “works as a manager at Med-Care” and has flatly denied that the company ever engaged in wrongdoing. Nevertheless, Med-Care and its executives (including Porush) drew government scrutiny.
In 2013–2014 a congressional probe and a whistleblower lawsuit alleged that Med-Care telemarketers under Porush’s direction sold unnecessary equipment to Medicare beneficiaries.
One complaint charged Porush was “a driving force behind the submission of false claims” to Medicare. In early 2015 federal agents raided Med-Care’s Boca Raton offices as part of the Medicare fraud investigation.
Throughout this period, Med-Care’s attorneys insisted the company would cooperate with investigators and that Porush had no undisclosed ownership interest. Porush himself has consistently denied any legal violations.
In the years since the Med-Care investigations, Porush has kept a low public profile. He remains identified as an executive in the medical-supply firm, but no further indictments have been announced.
Crucially, he is still subject to his industry bans: SEC and FINRA records note he was barred in 1996 and 2001 from any future broker-dealer roles.
As of the mid-2020s, there is no indication he has returned to the securities business. His professional narrative remains defined by the Stratton Oakmont saga and subsequent ventures in healthcare supplies.
As of 2026, his net worth is not publicly disclosed, and no figure has been officially verified by major financial authorities. Danny Porush has earned income through leadership roles in medical-equipment businesses: for example, he has served as an executive vice-president at Med-Care Diabetic & Medical Supplies Inc.
(a Florida-based medical device supplier) and even stated that he works as a manager at Med-Care. Public records also list him as the owner of Christian Diabetic Network, a related medical-supply company. Specific compensation figures or earnings from these positions are not publicly disclosed.
Danny Porush is an American businessman and former stockbroker best known for co-founding the Stratton Oakmont brokerage, which became notorious for running a pump-and-dump stock fraud scheme in the 1990s.
Yes. Porush pleaded guilty to multiple counts including securities fraud and money laundering in 1999 and was sentenced to four years in federal prison, serving approximately 39 months.
Stratton Oakmont was expelled from the brokerage industry in 1996 for fraudulent practices, and its founders, including Porush, were barred from serving as brokers.
Porush attended Dickinson College and Boston University but did not complete a degree at either institution.
A character loosely based on Porush named Donnie Azoff appears in The Wolf of Wall Street, though Porush has stated the portrayal contains fictional elements.