Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll is a prisoner in California’s

San Quentin State Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

, serving a sentence of 54 years to life for murder. He has earned the nickname "Wall Street" and “The Oracle of San Quentin”.

Early life

Carroll was born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and later moved to

East Oakland East Oakland is a geographical region of Oakland, California, United States, that stretches between Lake Merritt in the northwest and San Leandro in the southeast. As the southeastern portion of the city, East Oakland takes up the largest portio ...

, where he grew up, amidst the

crack epidemic in the United States The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in a number of social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Ameri ...

. His mother was a waitress at a bowling alley and the family was often on

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

. He later befriended his mother's drug dealer, who taught him to steal quarters from arcade machines. Carroll was eventually caught and sentenced to

juvenile hall In criminal justice systems, a youth detention center, known as a juvenile detention center (JDC),Stahl, Dean, Karen Kerchelich, and Ralph De Sola. ''Abbreviations Dictionary''. CRC Press, 20011202. Retrieved 23 August 2010. , . juvenile det ...

Prison

In 1996, at 17 years old, he murdered a man in a botched robbery attempt. Carroll turned himself in and received a 54 years-to-life sentence. He was illiterate when he was imprisoned but learned to read and write at the age of 20. Caroll became interested in the stock market after realizing its financial potential. He learned about the markets through the newspapers' financial sections. He got his start investing in

penny stock Penny stocks are common shares of small public companies that trade for less than one dollar per share. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) uses the term "Penny stock" to refer to a security, a financial instrument which represents a ...

s by cashing in unused postage stamps he bought with revenue from his tobacco sales to other prisoners.

Transfer to San Quentin Prison

Carroll was transferred to San Quentin Prison in 2012.

Financial literacy courses

Carroll along with fellow inmate Troy Williams, started the Financial Literacy Program. Together they created F.E.E.L (Financial Empowerment Emotional Literacy). Caroll teaches a financial literacy class with Zak Williams, the son of comedian

Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...

and a graduate of

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

. The class educates inmates on how inmates can develop skills applicable to life outside prison.

Philosophy

Carroll's philosophy is that most crime is attributed to a lack of financial security, which has led him to teach other San Quentin State Prison inmates about the stock market.

References

External links

Project FEEL in the news

Curtis Carroll TED talk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Curtis American financial traders American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Living people San Quentin State Prison San Quentin State Prison inmates 1978 births