Jordan Belfort
Jordan Belfort has said that he is changed Reuters

Jordan Belfort, AKA the "Wolf of Wall Street", claims to have redeemed himself after cheating people out of their money.

Leonardo di Caprio, starred alongside Jonah Hill in the 2013 movie adaptation of Belfort's autobiography, depicting the former banker's unbelievably decadent lifestyle of drugs, prostitutes and vulgar displays of wealth in the 1990s.

Belfort says he no longer wants to be associated with that sleazy image; now he wants to be seen as a motivational speaker.

Speaking at a New York University School of Law Auditorium, he asked for forgiveness from his 1,500 victims.

"I've redeemed myself. I do the right thing every day. I'm turning over all the profits to people who lost money," he said.

Belfort was ordered to pay back $110m in restitution to those who fell foul of his scams, for which he served 22 months in prison.

Currently, he has paid back around $11m, but half of all the proceeds from his book and the movie adaptation of it, along with fees he receives from speeches, will go towards reimbursing his victims.

"Money is like alcohol. It makes you more of what you are. If you're an asshole, it makes you a bigger asshole," he continued.

"Not a day went by where there wasn't a voice in the back of my head saying 'what the hell am I doing?'"