 Stratton Oakmont functioned as a boiler room that marketed penny stocks and defrauded investors with the "pump and dump" type of stock sales.During his years at Stratton, Belfort developed a lifestyle that consisted of lavish parties and intensive recreational use of drugs, especially methaqualone—sold to him under the brand name "Quaalude"—that resulted in an addiction.Stratton Oakmont at one point employed over 1,000 stock brokers and was involved in stock issues totaling more than US$1 billion, including being behind the initial public offering for footwear company Steve Madden.