Shia Labeouf made some money while preparing for his role in Oliver Stone’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Starpulse says he made almost $500,000 after learning how to invest.

The forthcoming sequel to the 1987 Academy Award Winner, Wall Street, is set 23 years later, after the 2008 stock market crash and stars LaBeouf stars as a whiz kid trader opposite Michael Douglas’ Gordon Gekko — released from prison and now more of an anti-hero than a villain.

Starpulse says LaBeouf, 23, prepped for his part by training at one of the world’s largest discount brokers, Charles Schwab. And the extra research proved a good investment.

LaBeouf reportedly said, “Before I did anything, before I even met Oliver Stone, I went into the Schwab office…I get out to New York, I meet all these amazing people, and I said, alright, I’m gonna put some money into it. If (I’m) ever going to invest, and I’ve always wanted to, this was the time to do it. So I put $20,000 in. And that $20,000 turned into $489,000. I looked at it yesterday… I’m pretty good at it.”

He added what one hopes is a joke: “Really, it’s who gets the information first… four of the nine guys I was training with got arrested and are in jail now for insider trading.”

(Photo by PR Photos)

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