Gordon Gekko (michael Douglas)

Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas) is released from prison in October 2001 after serving almost eight years for insider trading and securities fraud. Seven years later Jacob "Jake" Moore (Shia LaBeouf) is awakened by his girlfriend, Winnie (Carey Mulligan). Jake turns on the television and watches an interview with Gekko, now an author and lecturer promoting his new book Is Greed Good?. Winnie gets upset and turns the television off—she is Gekko’s estranged daughter and wants nothing to do with him. Winnie goes off to gather investors for her online political blog. Jake goes to his job at Keller Zabel Investments where he is one of the firm’s top proprietary traders and the protégé of its managing director, Louis Zabel (Frank Langella). He tries to raise money for a fusion research project, which promises to be a viable source of alternative energy but the board disagrees with him. Zabel has become disillusioned with the industry and gives Jake a $1.45 million bonus, telling him to spend it and keep the economy going. Zabel also encourages Jake to marry Winnie and have a child. Jake buys Winnie a ring and later goes out for drinks with his broker friend who mentions rumors that Keller Zabel is in danger, with billions of sub-prime toxic debt that could bring the company down. Jake brushes it off, saying "I'll make you a bet right now. I've got a million dollars left in my bonus, it's yours tomorrow a.m. You put it in KZI shares, you leverage that to the max. That's how much I believe in this company." In the next scene Jake is shown sitting at his trading desk, watching KZI stock crashing more than 30% in one day. Zabel tries to arrange a bank bailout for KZI, but he is blocked by Bretton James (Josh Brolin), the CEO of a fictional firm called Churchill Schwartz, which Zabel had refused to bail out eight years earlier. The next morning Zabel wakes up, goes down to the subway and, as a train pulls in, he jumps on the tracks killing himself which Jake learns about from the television. Jake asks Winnie to marry him, and she accepts. Jake later attends a lecture given by Gekko and hears his thoughts about the upcoming financial crisis. Jake approaches Gekko and tells him that he’s about to marry Winnie. They ride the train together and Gekko explains that his daughter won’t speak to him. Gekko gives him his card and tells Jake that Keller Zabel was in trouble the minute someone started rumors about them and that Jake should look for whoever profited from Keller Zabel’s collapse. Gekko and Jake agree to make a trade: Jake will enable Gekko to communicate with his estranged daughter, Gekko will help Jake gather information to destroy Bretton. Aided by Gekko, Jake does some digging and learns that Bretton James profited from the Keller Zabel collapse. Jake spreads rumors about the nationalization of an African oil rig that Bretton’s company owns. The company loses $120 million and Bretton asks for a meeting with Jake where he offers Jake a job. Determined to take Bretton out and avenge Zabel, Jake accepts. Jake again visits Gekko and explains that he was offered a job by Bretton James. Gekko tells Jake that he suspects it was James’ testimony that got him sent away for eight years. Gekko asks Jake to arrange a face-to-face meeting with his daughter where Winnie realizes that Gekko hasn't changed and leaves upset. Jake pursues her, and she tells him that, if he goes back, Gekko will destroy them. Jake is put on the sideline so that Bretton's point woman can take over a pitch to a group of Chinese investors. They are unimpressed and Jake swoops in with the fusion research he has been supporting. Bretton is impressed by Jake's initiative and glad for the new infusion of funds. The economy is slowly starting to crumble. Bretton hosts a fundraiser and invites Jake and Winnie. Gekko asks Jake to front him $10,000 so that he can also attend and have another chance to reconcile with Winnie. During the party, Bretton tells Jake that the Chinese are going to invest $100 million in Jake's fusion research. That day the economy collapses, and Jake tells Winnie that the world as they know it is over. Winnie tells him that she is pregnant. Jake reveals that the money the Chinese invested is eventually going into fossil fuels instead of fusion research. Jake gets angry that Bretton is trying to sink the research, even though it would benefit the entire world. Jake tells Gekko, who proposes a solution: Winnie has an account in Switzerland with $100 million that Gekko set up in the 1980s when she was born. Jake could use that money to fund the research and save the company, but, since Winnie never declared it, she could go to jail for tax evasion. She signs the money over to Jake who then entrusts it to Gekko to legitimize the funds for investment in the fusion research company. Jake gets a call saying that the money never arrived. He goes to Gekko's apartment and finds it empty—Gekko has gone. Jake tells Winnie what happened, and she asks Jake to leave: she no longer trusts him nor does she feel safe around him. He tracks Gekko to London where he is running a financial company he started with the $100 million. Jake propositions him for one last trade: Winnie gets her money back, and Gekko gets a grandson. Jake shows him the ultrasound of his son, but Gekko, despite being moved, cannot let go of being someone of importance. He tells him that it's not about money, it's about the game. Jake pieces together everything from Keller Zabel’s collapse to the economic bailout of Bretton’s company. He gives the information to Winnie, telling her that revealing it will put her website on the map as a legitimate source of information. Winnie runs the story, and Bretton James is exposed. The board of directors kicks Bretton out of the firm and goes to Gekko as he successfully turned the $100 million into $1.1 billion. Jake sees Winnie walking to her apartment and helps carry her things. Jake feels his son's kicks, and Winnie thanks him for the help, but they do not reconcile. Gekko appears and tells them that he deposited the $100 million into Fusion's account anonymously. Now that Gekko has attained his goal of becoming a billionaire, he feels that giving back that relatively small amount would be an act of charity. He apologizes and asks to become a grandfather. Jake kisses Winnie, and they reconcile before the birth. They are shown one year later, celebrating their son's first birthday with Gekko present.