LaBeouf stars as a young Wall Street whizzkid opposite Michael Douglas’ ruthless Gordon Gekko in the forthcoming sequel.
He prepared for his part by training at one of the world’s largest discount brokers, Charles Schwab. And the 23 year old’s extra study sessions have proven a good investment – he’s almost half a million dollars richer than when he landed the role.
He explains, “Before I did anything, before I even met Oliver Stone, I went into the Schwab office… I get out to New York, I meet all these amazing people, and I said, alright, I’m gonna put some money into it. If (I’m) ever going to invest, and I’ve always wanted to, this was the time to do it. So I put $20,000 (GBP12,500) in. And that $20,000 turned into $489,000 (GBP305,625). I looked at it yesterday (18Feb10)… I’m pretty good at it.”
But LaBeouf admits the big payoff also came with big risks.
He adds, “Really, it’s who gets the information first… four of the nine guys I was training with got arrested and are in jail now for insider trading.”
