Curtis Carroll
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Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll is an American former prisoner in California's
San Quentin State Prison San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (SQ), formerly known as San Quentin State Prison, is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated area, unincorporated place ...
, released from serving a sentence of 54 years to life for murder. He has earned the nickname "Wall Street" and "The Oracle of San Quentin". ''Curtis Wall Street Carroll'' has been featured in numerous publications like the
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
,
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
,
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
and
NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
.


Early life

Carroll was born in Washington, D.C. 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 porti ...
, where he grew up. His mother was a waitress at a bowling alley and the family was often on welfare. 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 dete ...
.


Prison

Carroll was arrested for murder in 1996 when he was 17. He surrendered to police and was sentenced to a minimum of 54 years with a maximum of life. He was illiterate when he was imprisoned but learned to read and write at the age of 20. Carroll became interested in the stock market after realizing its financial potential. He learned about the markets through newspaper financial sections. as presented in He got his start investing in
penny stock Penny stocks are common shares of small public companies that trade for less than five dollars per share. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) uses the term "penny stock" to refer to a security, a financial instrument which repr ...
s by cashing in unused postage stamps he bought with revenue from his tobacco sales to other prisoners. 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), a project Carroll gave a
TED talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...
about in 2019. As of September 5, 2024, Carroll's
TED (conference) TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...
has 4.2M views on YouTube. Carroll has taught 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 comedie ...
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 one of ...
. The class educated inmates on how they can develop skills applicable to life outside prison. He has been called the "Oracle of San Quentin", and when asked in 2017, Carroll was optimistic
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
’s presidency would stimulate the economy. In 2023 Curtis Carroll was featured in ''Forbes'' magazine.


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.


See also

*
Juvenile court Juvenile court, also known as young offender's court or children's court, is a tribunal having special authority to pass judgements for crimes committed by children who have not attained the age of majority. In most modern legal systems, chi ...
*
Defense of infancy The age of criminal responsibility is the age below which a child is deemed incapable of having committed a criminal offence. In legal terms, it is referred to as a defence/defense of infancy, which is a form of defense known as an excuse so t ...
*
American juvenile justice system The American juvenile justice system is the primary system used to handle minor (law), minors who are convicted of criminal offenses. The system is composed of a federal and many separate state, territorial, and local jurisdictions, with states ...


References

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