Curtis Carroll

Curtis "Wall Street" Carroll (born 1978) is an American former prisoner in California's San Quentin State Prison, 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, Forbes, BBC and NPR.

Early life Carroll was born in Washington, D.C. and later moved to East Oakland, where he grew up. He got his start investing in penny stocks by cashing in unused postage stamps he bought with revenue from his tobacco sales to other prisoners. a project Carroll gave a TED talk about in 2019. As of September 5, 2024, Carroll's TED (conference) has 4.2M views on YouTube.

Carroll has taught a financial literacy class with Zak Williams, the son of comedian Robin Williams and a graduate of Columbia Business School. The class educated inmates on how they can develop skills applicable to life outside prison.

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.