The film Wall Street, directed by Oliver Stone, is a cinematic work that perfectly encapsulates the life of a stockbroker in New York City during 1985. The story revolves around a young account executive salesman named Bud Fox, who is energetic and eager to become the next successful stockbroker on Wall Street. An aspect of entrepreneurship from the movie that I noticed early on was how intriguing and enticing the idea of being a stockbroker truly was in the time period. Fox tries desperately to gain the attention from the mega-millionaire Gordan Gekko, and on his birthday brings him a present in hopes of working for him. After a brief conversation, Gekko asks Fox what he brings to the table, to which Fox responds by saying to buy shares of Bluestar which is the company his father works for. Gekko is enticed by the idea, and calls Fox back saying he would like 20,000 shares of it bought, starting their partnership. Over the course of the movie following this point, you see a complete shift in the mindset and mannerisms of Bud Fox, which leads me to my next point. This film shows the ugly side of the power and control money can have over a person.
Relating back to what I stated earlier, the upside of being a stockbroker in 1985 was one of the most attractive job offers a person could dream of. What made it interesting is the fact that you can have virtually unlimited income potential due to the fact that your work is commission based. In addition to this, your required investment to get started is minimal. You really only need to invest in some good suits to look the part, which both Gekko and Fox state multiple times throughout the movie. It is a business that has a low initial investment required, with a huge upside potential. He describes this concept to his father early on in the movie to his dad over lunch, when his father appears to not be happy with his career choice. Another interesting factor is the concepts of greed that are displayed throughout the entire movie. Gekko infiltrates Fox’s mind, and convinces him that greed is what will get him rich in the long run, which is simply not true. He even says when speaking in front of hundreds that “greed is good, greed for life, money, love, and knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.”
Wall Street does an excellent job of providing the perfect balance between business intertwined with life in society. In class recently we have discussed the importance of incorporating good ethics and morals into our work. This film perfectly describes the consequences of what can happen when you fail to be an ethical entrepreneur, and let greed overwhelm you. Last week we read Ebeling’s “Business Ethics and Morality in the Marketplace,” as well as Sobel’s “Principled Entrepreneurship,” and Hoppe’s “The Ethics of Entrepreneurship and Profit.” All three of these writings can be applied to Wall Street, and prove why and how Bud Fox and Gordan Gekko crumbled to their demise. For example, in Principled Entrepreneurship it states that a principled entrepreneur conducts business relationships with honesty and integrity, while also respecting and competing with other businesses in the marketplace. On the other hand it states that a principled entrepreneur does NOT attempt to take advantage of their customers or suppliers, engage in deception or fraud, nor pursue short-run profits at the detriment of the long run best interest of the company. Throughout the movie it is very clear that Gekko persuaded Fox to do what principled entrepreneurs should never do. By convincing Fox to do the dirty work for him and get inside information on other companies, it lands them both in a world of trouble for trying to get rich in the short-run. As a result, both end up in jail, and Fox gets charged for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and for violating the insider traders sanction act.